Warriors: the Starlight Stories
by Jess168
Summary: Far away from the original clans, Starclan has formed two new clans: Dawnclan and Duskclan. A prophecy comes to these clans: Darkness approaches, that will engulf the forest. Dawn cannot break the darkness, and Dusk always gives away to midnight. There is a Chance to save the clans, but fear of something unknown may prevent this Chance. If left unchallenge, eternal night will rule.
1. Prologue

_Darkness approaches, that will engulf the forest. Dawn cannot break the darkness, and Dusk always gives away to midnight. There is a Chance to save the clans, but fear of something unknown may prevent this Chance. If left unchallenged, an eternal night will rule..._

* * *

Prologue

In a large forest far from Thunderclan, Shadowclan, Riverclan, and Windclan's territory, lived a bunch of rouges. They had arrived here, after trailing the four clans for quite some time on their journey to their new territory. Eventually, they were noticed by the clans, and ran off, heading in a different direction. They had ended up in this dense forest, and had settled there. For many years, they lived as rouges, battling for territory. It was every cat for himself. None of them lived long, and their lives were dark and dangerous. Starclan watched this fighting in horror, and sadness. Eventually, they were fed up watching the rouges tear each other apart day after day, and so, they intervened. By this point, all of the original rouges had died. The new generation were more than willing to accept their advice; they were just as tired of the fighting as Starclan. The formed two clans; Dawnclan, and Duskclan.

Dawnclan moved into the thinner part of the forest, up against a large meadow. In a grove surrounded by many large willow trees, they built themselves a camp. They made their nests in the lower branches and amongst the roots. A small creek ran along the willows, giving them a nice source for water. To commune with Starclan, they climbed to the highest branches of the largest oak tree, and slept there. Their territory was filled with all sorts of forest creatures for prey, and the meadow nearby allowed them to eat rabbits and other creatures that made their homes in the long grass.

Dusckclan chose to live in the denser part of the forest, with their camp nestled inside of a large cave. They communed with Starclan by pressing their nose to a pool of water at the base of a waterfall at the back of the cave. The dense forest offered great coverage, and they learned to blend with the shadowy undergrowth. They ate similar prey as that of Dawnclan.

At first, the two clans lived in peace, but old rivalries from their rough past led to fighting. Taking an idea from the original four clans, Starclan set up a regular gathering on the night of the half moon to try and keep the peace. Despite Starclan's best efforts, the two clans continued to fight. They have been rivals ever sense, but both remain faithful to Starclan.

Years later, Starclan was confronted with a problem. Sense the creation of the Dark Forest, many cats have been sent there. Eventually, some of those cats came to realize how wrong they were to act the way they had, and wished for a way to right their wrongs. Starclan wasn't sure how they were supposed to do this; once sent to the Dark Forest, cats never left. After much debate, they came up with an answer. They called it: Chanceclan.

* * *

ALLIENCES

**Dawnclan**

Leader

**Rowanstar**- Brown tabby she-cat with white markings.

Deputy

**Sablestorm** - Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Heatherwhisker** - Dark copper tabby she-cat with white markings.

Warriors

**Sandstone** - Sand colored tom.  
**Apprentice, Wolfpaw.**

**Gingerclaw** - Ginger colored tom.  
**Apprentice, Shadepaw**

**Braveheart** - Once timid black she-cat  
**Apprentice, Lightningpaw**

**Silverwing** - Pretty silver she-cat with a small scar above her eye.  
**Apprentice, Squirrelpaw**

Apprentices

**Wolfpaw** - Dark gray and black tortoiseshell tom with blue-gray eyes.

**Shadepaw** - Black tom with dark eyes.

**Lightningpaw** - pale golden tabby tom.

**Squirrelpaw** - squirrel colored she-cat.

Queens

**Rippleshine** - Siamese she-cat.(mate- Sablestorm)

**Hazelleaf** - Golden she-cat. (Mate- Gingerclaw. kits- Owlkit, and Sunkit.)

Elders

**Cloudedeyes** - old gray she-cat. Blind.

Duskclan

Leader

**Cinderstar** - Broad shouldered dark gray tabby tom.

Deputy

**Willowhisp** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with emerald eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Moonsoul** - Dark blue point she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Warriors

**Whispspirit** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes.

**Thornmouth** - Older, battle scarred brown tom with a very short temper.  
**Apprentice, Clovepaw**

Apprentices

**Clovepaw**- Dark brown tabby tom.


	2. Chapter 1: the Discovery

Chapter 1  
the Discovery

Sablestorm padded through the dark forest. The Greenleaf sunlight streamed through the forest branches to warm his dappled coat as he padded along. The day was just another warm, Greenleaf day, and Sablestorm was content to enjoy it. The tortoiseshell deputy scented the air and then continued along the boarder, his eyes peering over the imaginary line at the empty territory beyond. So far, so good; the border was secure.

The forest fell away to be replaced by a vast meadow. The young tom stuck close to the boarder as he padded along through the grass. Technically, there was now reason for the boarder here; the only other clan around was _many_ fox-lengths away from where he was now, on the other side of his territory. Still, they monitored the border, just in case. With nothing else to do, the deputy had wandered from camp, deciding to check on this side of the boarder.

Just as Sablestorm reached the point where the scent line started to curve back towards the forest, he noticed movement in the grass beyond. He stopped, tensing, his eyes staring at the spot. Through the long grass he caught glimpses of black fur. His mind started cycling through the possible animals the fur could belong to. _It's not a badger- it's too thin. It's most likely not a dog; those two-leg pets couldn't move that silently. It must be a cat, _he concluded. He parted his mouth, allowing the warm breeze that blew toward him to cross over his scent glands at the top of his mouth. As he closed his mouth again, his ear flicked in confusion. The scent he caught on the air was nothing like any smell he had ever scented before. It did smell faintly like a cat, like he had expected, but there was something else, something stronger that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

Suddenly he shuddered in horror as realization dawned. He had smelt it before, but he hadn't recognized it at first. The smell he had caught was that of death. _What in the name of Starclan? _He thought. He crouched low, scenting the air again. He shivered as the scent reached him again, it's horrible rotten order bombarding his senses. Staring through the grass, he tried to determine the creature's path. He could tell that it was moving at a brisk pace towards him. Thinking quickly, he decided to wait and find out who, or what, the scent belonged to.

As the cat- or what he thought was a cat- moved closer, he realized it wasn't alone. He could now make out the scent of two cats. Both scents were very faint and stale, as if old, and they were almost overpowered by the scent of death. As the cats neared, he could here them meowing to each other. "...but Fallstar, there's the scent of cats all over the place in this direction. I'm not saying I can't protect you, or you can't fend for yourself, but until you receive your nine lives from Starclan, I would like to avoid confrontation," one cat meowed. Sabblestorm peered through the grass stems from his hideout, seeing the two cats for the first time. The first one was a completely black she-cat with golden eyes. Next to her, a dark brown tabby tom padded along, looking concerned. Sabblestorm guessed he was the one that had spoken, and the she-cat was probably Fallstar.

"I know, my friend, but the only place I can talk to Starclan is this way," Fallstar replied.

"Are you sure? You told me you don't even know where this place is," Oakfur stated.

"I told you I don't know exactly, but Starclan is guiding me. I will find it." The dark she-cat's tone left no room for argument. Clearly, she was in charge. "If confrontation arises, I trust your skills and Starclan to protect us." The cats continued towards Sabblestorm. He couldn't help but notice that the closer they got, the stronger the scent of death became. He cringed, scrunching his nose up to block out the stench. The cats veered to the left, heading away from him a bit. They wouldn't notice him, but he still had a great view of them. He followed them with his gaze as they passed. The she-cat's side was now towards him, and he could see the tom walking next to her on the other side. Suddenly, Sabblestorm noticed something about Fallstar that he hadn't seen before. Along her side, was a long jagged scratch. It seemed a few days old, and was very deep. Sabblestorm suppressed a gasp. It was deep enough, and new enough, that he could tell the severity of the wound should have killed her. At that moment, he also realized that the farther away they walked, the lesser the scent of death became. _Is that smell coming from them? _He shuddered, and suddenly felt the need to stop them from crossing into his territory.

He stood and called out to the cats. "Stop right there! This is Dawnclan territory! Who are you, and what are you doing here?" The tabby tom whirled around, his fur standing on end, a small hiss escaping his lips. Sabblestorm's fur fluffed up in response, and his ears laid flat against his head.

Fallstar, who remained calm, flicked her tail along the tom's side. "Stand down, Oakfur. This is their territory, we have no right to be here, and he has every right to demand answers of us." Oakfur relaxed a little, but he still stared warily at Sabblestorm. "I am Fallstar, and this is my deputy, Oakfur," the she-cat introduced. "We travel to a place where I can commune with Starclan, and receive my nine lives."

"What clan are you from? I know of only one, and you do not smell of Duskclan cats," Sabblestorm asked. _You smell of death,_ he added silently.

"We are from Chanceclan, a new clan, established in these parts by Starclan," Fallstar replied kindly. "Please, do you know of a place I can commune with Starclan? It is very important that I do." A hint of urgency slipped into her voice as she said this.

"I do, but you will have to ask my leader for permission first," Sabblestorm replied. He had allowed himself to relax as they talked, but he never let his gaze stray from the two strangers.

"Of course. If you will show me where, I will talk with your leader, if they will hear me," Fallstar agreed.

Sabblestorm's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do I know your not trying to get me to lead you to my camp, so you can attack us later on?" he meowed.

Fallstar sighed sadly, but she looked as if she had expected this. She then looked up and met his gaze, sincerity shining in her golden eyes. "If we wanted you dead, you already would be."

This statement made the hair on the back of his neck rise in alarm. He swallowed hard, trying to hide his fear. He forced his fur to relax, and then meowed, "Well, I trust my leader can decide on weather or not to believe you. Follow me, I will show you to my leader." He started back towards camp. The two cats followed. The walk across the meadow and then into the forest was silent. It seemed as if the two cats with him were unwilling to brake the silence, and he sure wasn't. Sablestorm's mind swam with questions, but he kept his mouth shut. Part of him wanted to know as little as possible about these cats; just being in their presence unnerved him.

Eventually, they reached the willow surrounded clearing Sabblestorm and his clanmates called home. He smiled at it's sight. He loved his home. Then he remembered he was not alone, and his smile disappeared. He turned back to Fallstar and Oakfur and meowed, "Just across this stream, and then we'll be there." He flicked his tail at the water at the bottom of the hill, and then started down the crest. At the bottom, he splashed easily through the stream, it's cold water not bothering him at all. The other cats, he discovered, hated water. He watched them cross with a slightly amused grin on his face. When they were finally across, he turned towards his camp and padded onward.

As he entered the camp, his clanmates turned to stare at him. He knew that they were wondering who the cats trailing him were, and could tell by some of their facial expressions, many of them had also picked up on the strange cat's morbid scent. He stopped in the middle of the camp, and turned to look at the two. "Rowanstar is probably in her den. Wait here, I will go find her." The two nodded, and then he turned away.

He moved towards the large willow across the camp, and climbed down into the whole underneath it's roots. The cave had been dug out years ago by another creature, as well as all of the other dens. This one was smaller than the others, and dark all of the time. Deep in the whole a sleeping form was curled up in a nest of moss and soft willow leaves. He padded towards it and gently nudged the tabby. She lifted her head and looked around, her golden eyes shining in the darkness. She met his gaze, a curious look in her eyes. "Rowanstar, two cats are here to see you. They say they are from a clan called Chanceclan. They want to speak to Starclan. I told them they would have to speak to you first."

She nodded and stood, stretching. "I will speak to them. You may go," she meowed as she made her way to the entrance of the den. Sabblestorm followed her out, and then turned to the next willow tree over. He climbed under it's roots to a den that was twice as large as the leader's den. There were a handful of cats in this den; to the right, Hazelleaf, a golden she-cat lay curled up around two kits. The two, Owlkit and Sunkit, were sleeping now, but he knew that if they were awake, the would be running around, causing trouble. The two were almost old enough to become apprentices, and were quite a handful for their mother.

On the opposite side, a younger, smaller Siamese she-cat lay curled up in her nest alone. Her swollen belly rose and fell slowly, telling Sabblestorm that Rippleshine was asleep. He padded to the young cat and nosed her shoulder gently to wake her. She looked up, and when she saw him, she began purring. "Hello, love," she meowed softly. She sat up and moved close.

He returned her purr. "How are you?" he meowed gently as he sat next to her.

Her purr increased, showing her happiness. "I've never been better." He could see her happiness in her eyes, and felt his own heart swell with joy. The great joy he felt was brought by the kit's his mate carried. He gently licked her ear as she said, "How did your patrol go?"

"Patrol of one?" he said, laughing softly. "It went well, until I stumbled across some outsiders," He quietly began to tell his mate about the knew cats. She listened intently for a while, but clearly she was still tired. She was often tired. It worried him a bit, but he pushed it aside, not letting it ruin his mood. He continued talking until she curled up at his feet and slipped off to sleep. He gently licked her ear again, and then left the nursery to find out what his leader had decided. He wondered just how much he could trust the two cats. Fallstar had seemed sincere, but from what he had seen, some cats were good at acting trustworthy. He shook his head, and then stepped out into the midday light. His clanmates had gathered to listen to his leader's words as she conversed with the foreign cat. So far, neither seemed to be acting hostile, which allowed Sabblestorm to sigh in relief. He stepped out farther, and then joined the crowd that had gathered.

The two cats talked for a while longer, and then Rowanstar sighed. "I will allow you to converse with Starclan this once. Maybe as you convey with them, you can ask for a place in your territory to talk to them in the future."

Fallstar seemed relieved. "Thank you," she meowed. Rowanstar stood and flicked her tail, signaling for her fellow leader to follow. The black she-cat turned to her deputy and meowed, "Stay here," and then followed Rowanstar. The two she-cats disappeared a moment later into the upper branches of the willow tree above Rowanstar's den.

Sabblestorm looked to Oakfur. The tabby tom stood awkwardly in the middle of the camp. Sablestorm sighed. Part of him didn't want to be nice to these cats- the smell of death on their fur made him shiver- but his leader had decided that they were trustworthy. Feeling as if he couldn't leaf Oakfur to sit awkwardly in the center of the camp, he padded towards him. "If your hungry, go ahead and eat. The fresh-kill pile's right over there. During Greenleaf, we have so much prey that we struggle not to waist, so take some for yourself and Fallstar," he meowed.

Oakfur nodded. "Thank you. I will do that," he meowed gratefully. He then sighed, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about all of this, by the way. Fallstar can be so stubborn. I tried to talk her out of coming here, but she wouldn't budge. I feel bad, invading your camp."

"You didn't invade. It's fine," Sabblestorm said in reply. He couldn't help but warm to the gentle tom. He sat down. "So, did you have to travel far to get here?"

"Not really. It was a long walk, but not too far. I guess we're bordering clans now," Oakfur replied as he sat next to him. He seemed to finally relax as he did, and was obviously comfortuable talking with Sabblestorm.

"Yeah, I guess so. How did your clan come to be?" he asked.

Suddenly Oakfur looked uncomfortable. "Err... I probably shouldn't talk about it." Sabblestorm remained silent, looking curious. When Oakfur noticed, he meowed, "It's kind of a touchy subject for our clan. Fallstar wants to take us to the gathering, if your clan will show us; Starclan has asked us to go. Then, I'm pretty sure Fallstar will explain." Sabblestorm tried to hide his disappointment as he nodded. Seeming like he felt he hadn't explained himself very well, Oakfur added, "Our clan seems pretty much like yours, on the outside; we have a leader, we have a deputy, we even have a medicine cat, Aquasky. Beyond that, the similarities change... we're special. It's why our scent is different. Why all our warriors carry some sort of scar from birth... it's hard to explain."Sabblestorm stared for a minute, not sure what to say. After a minute, Oakfur meowed, "I figure you had noticed. I could see the horror in your eyes as you approached us. It's the same look most cats give us when they first learn of us. The smell of death follows us everywhere. I hate it... but I've adjusted."

"Why do you smell that way?" Sablestorm meowed quietly. He didn't think Oakfur would tell him, but he had to ask. It had bothered him sense he had first noticed the black fur moving through the meadow earlier the day.

Oakfur seemed to debate what he was going to tell him. After a minute, he meowed, "Because, in a way... we are dead." Sabblestorm had to resist the urge to back away. He couldn't keep his fur from rising, or keep the horrified look from his face.

Oakfur bowed his head, almost in defeat. "I knew you wouldn't understand. I promise, Fallstar is going to make everything make sense. We're not some weird abomination, as everyone treats us. Starclan set up Chanceclan to help cats fix their mistakes. The smell of death has clung to us... but I don't think it will stay. Every kit born smells less and less of death. Maybe one day it will disappear entirely. That's all I can tell you now."

Sabblestorm nodded, trying to relax. He could sense Oakfur's desperate need for acceptance. "I'm sorry I reacted the way did," he muttered.

Oakfur looked resigned, if not a bit bitter. "It's expected. I don't blame you. I reacted the same way when I scented it amongst my clanmates for the first time."

"It must be hard. I'm... I'm sorry," Sabblestorm blurted, suddenly feeling sorry for the tom.

The tabby met his gaze, seeming to search his eyes for a minute. Then he nodded. "One day, I hope to be known for the good we represent, not for the scent that follows us. We are not what cats think we are... thank you for trying to understand." From that moment on, Sabblestorm knew he would always be friends with Oakfur. Though he was different, and there were some things that he didn't understand about the tabby, he could tell Chanceclan could use from friends, and he had decided he would at least be the first of hopefully many.

* * *

ALLIENCES

**Dawnclan**

Leader

**Rowanstar**- Brown tabby she-cat with white markings and golden eyes.

Deputy

**Sablestorm** - Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Heatherwhisker** - Dark copper tabby she-cat with white markings.

Warriors

**Sandstone** - Sand colored tom. **Apprentice, Wolfpaw.**

**Gingerclaw** - Ginger colored tom. **Apprentice, Shadepaw.**

**Braveheart** - Once timid black she-cat. **Apprentice, Lightningpaw.**

**Silverwing** - Pretty silver she-cat with a small scar above her eye. **Apprentice, Squirrelpaw**

Apprentices

**Wolfpaw** - Dark gray and black tortoiseshell tom with blue-gray eyes.

**Shadepaw** - Black tom with dark eyes.

**Lightningpaw** - pale golden tabby tom.

**Squirrelpaw** - squirrel colored she-cat.

Queens

**Rippleshine** - Siamese she-cat.(mate- Sablestorm)

**Hazelleaf** - Golden she-cat. (mate- Gingerclaw. kits- Owlkit, and Sunkit.)

Elders

**Cloudedeyes** - old gray she-cat. Blind.

**Duskclan**

Leader

**Cinderstar** - Broad shouldered dark gray tabby tom.

Deputy

**Willowhisp** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with emerald eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Moonsoul** - Dark blue point she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Warriors

**Whispspirit** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes.

**Thornmouth** - Older, battle scarred brown tom with a very short temper. **Apprentice, Clovepaw**

Apprentices

**Clovepaw**- Dark brown tabby tom.

**Chanceclan**

Leader

**Fallstar**- Completely black she-cat with golden eyes and a long, jagged scar along her left side.

Deputy

**Oakfur**- Dark brown tabby tom with yellow-green eyes and a scar across his chest.

Medicine Cat

**Aquasky** - Long haired blue she-cat with yellow eyes.


	3. Chapter 2: the Gathering

Chapter 2  
the Gathering

Fallstar followed the Dawnclan cats, wondering how much farther they had to go before they reached the gathering place. Every time she stopped, she had to resist the urge to pace. She couldn't stop thinking about the coming gathering. She planned to introduce her clan to Dawnclan and Duskclan, and she couldn't help but wonder how they would react. She knew her clan was a lot to take in.

Behind her, five cats followed. She had decided to bring her deputy because of tradition. She had also brought her medicine cat, to show the clans that they were similar in many ways. Three other warriors followed. These were her senior warriors; Mystictail, Wolfclaw, and Brackenclaw. They had been with her the longest, and had put their past behind her. She shuddered to think what might happen if she had brought a younger warrior.

Rowanstar paused, and the Dawnclan cats following her paused as well. They had stopped near a thick wall of long-stalked plants. Rowanstar waited a moment, and then she moved through the plants. As the last Dawnclan cat disappeared through the grass, Fallstar allowed her cats to follow.

As they stepped through the plants, Fallstar found herself on the bed of a small river. On the other side of the river were three large rocks, each slightly taller than the last. Cats were already milling about the rocks. Some sat conversing, but it seemed the cats were split into two groups. Fallstar could pick out the scents of two separate clans, and quickly realized the two clans seemed to be refusing to mingle.

On one of the rocks, a broad shouldered gray tabby sat with his tail curled around his paws. Rowanstar moved up next to Fallstar and meowed, "The leaders address their cats from those rocks. That tom is Cinderstar, leader of Duskclan." She then flicked her tail for Fallstar to follow, and then moved towards the rocks.

Before Fallstar followed, she turned to her cats. "Go ahead and mingle, just be careful; try to avoid fights, please," she instructed.

"I'll watch them, Fallstar. They'll stay out of trouble," Oakfur meowed sincerely. She nodded and then followed Rowanstar to the rocks. The tabby she-cat had already joined Cinderstar up on the rocks. The two leaders sat on opposite sides of the rock, not meeting each other's eyes. Clearly, they did not get along. Feeling a bit out of place, Fallstar jumped up onto the rock with them.

As she sat near Rowanstar, she could feel Cinderstar's gaze on her. She glanced at him, and he stared back, curiosity and maybe a bit of hostility showing in his gray eyes. "And who might you be?" he meowed. His words were calm, but they held a slight disgusted tone. No doubt he was already picking out the differences between her clan and his. _He probably also feels like I'm invading a bit,_ Fallstar thought.

"I'm Fallstar, leader of Chanceclan," she replied calmly. She met his gaze, silently challenging him to question her authority, or right to join him above the clans.

"Chanceclan? I know of no such thing," Cinderstar sneered.

"They're new in these parts, Cinderstar, and you would be wise to respect her position. The clan has been created by Starclan themselves," Rowanstar said, surprising Fallstar. She turned to the tabby, nodding her gratitude.

"Don't tell me what to do," Cinderstar spat, obviously not liking being put in his place by the Dawnclan leader.

"Are we going to have a gathering, or are you going to continue to argue like a kit?" Dawnstar asked, her words still calm. Cinderstar growled but turned away. Fallstar lowered her head to the cats below in an attempt to hide the smirk growing on her face.

Dawnstar stood and yowled for silence. Eventually the groups bellow quieted. She stepped forward, starting the meeting. "Cats of Dawnclan, Duskclan, as you can see, there is a new clan with us tonight. Chanceclan was recently established by Fallstar, who was guided by Starclan." She flicked her tail at the dark leader at her shoulder. "I'm going to let her introduce her clan. I must warn you... they are different, but they are meant to be. I hope we can overlook our differences and allow peace to continue." As she finished, she stepped back, and turned to look to Fallstar.

Knowing it was her turn to speak, Fallstar breathed in deeply, and then stepped forward. "Thank you, Rowanstar. Cats of Dawnclan and Duskclan, you have probably heard of the Dark Forest- the place where wicked cats' spirits are sent to live because of their wrong deeds. Lately, Starclan has noticed that many cats who live in this dark place eventually come to regret their past deeds. Some Starclan cats began to feel sorry for those cats, and have been hunting for a way to give these cats a chance to fix what they have done wrong..." she paused here as her nervousness returned. What she was about to say she knew would be the hardest part for them to understand. She pushed away her nervousness and forced herself to continue. "Their answer, was Chanceclan. Named for the second chance these cats are given, Chanceclan cats are the reincarnation of cats that were sent to the Dark Forest, and have sot a way to redeem themselves. Myself, my deputy, Oakfur, and my medicine cat, Aquasky, were all chosen from amongst Starclan to lead this clan. The cats that I have brought with me today are all senior warriors. When born into Chanceclan, the cat has no clue what they did in their past lives, or who they were, but over time, they come to remember that they were sent to Chanceclan for a reason- to try again." Ripples of confusion and surprise passed through the crowd. All eyes seemed to be glued to her or her warriors. She looked to Mystictail, Wolfclaw, and Brakenclaw and silently begged them to remain strong. When she saw they didn't waver under the many cats curious gases, pride filled her. They had come so far from their dark past, and she was proud of them.

"So this is why you smell of death," Cinderstar sneered from behind her.

She turned to him. "Yes, sadly. The smell will fade in time."

"It speaks of this clan's true nature. You are abominations! No cat should live twice, and nothing so corrupt could have been created by Starclan." Cinderstar's words hurt. Fallstar tried not to flinch away, but she really wanted to. She didn't want to face the large Duskclan leader and try to explain herself to him, but she knew she had to be strong for her clan.

Before she could come to her clan's defense, someone else spoke up for her. "Starclan did create Chanceclan, Cinderstar. I asked them myself," Rowanstar meowed.

"Then you are not of Starclan either," Cinderstar spat, his gray eyes turned on the tabby warrior at Fallstar's side.

"How dare you say that of my clan!" Rowanstar hissed, becoming angry for the first time sense Fallstar had met her. She then forced herself to calm. In a gentler tone, she meowed, "There is no reason to jump to conclusions, Cinderstar. Ask Starclan, you will find out the truth. For now, let us continue the gathering. Should I go first, or do you wish to?" Cinderstar just grunted, so Rowanstar stepped forward again. "In Dawnclan, prey is good, and are apprentices continue their training. Soon several of them will become warriors. One of our queens has two kits, and there will be more kits soon. One of our warriors retired, because she has become blind. She asked her name to be changed. She shall now be known as Cloudedeyes. Our clan shall always be grateful of her service." She paused, as if thinking over what she had to say, and then turned to her rival. "Cinderstar?" she said, telling him it was his turn.

Cinderstar stepped forward. "We have a new apprentice, Clovepaw, and Whispaw has become Whispspirit, a warrior." Clearly he was proud of his clan, and his pride was evident in his words. He then shrugged. "Other then that, life goes on as usual." He then turned and stared at Fallstar. "I will have you know, I can see what you and Rowanstar are doing. Starclan sent or not, I'm still considering Chanceclan a threat." He then jumped down from the rock, signaling the gathering was over.

Rowanstar stayed next to Fallstar for a moment. "Don't listen to him. Cinderstar's a brave warrior, but he's mostly all talk. He probably won't act on that threat." Fallstar nodded, and then went to jump down from the rock. She paused again, and then turned and asked, "I trust you can return to your territory on your own?"

"Yes Rowanstar. Thank you for your support," Fallstar told her. Rowanstar nodded, and then allowed herself to jump down onto the ground below. Fallstar remained on the rock above, debating over the results of the gathering. Clearly, Rowanstar's leader accepted her, but she knew some Dawnclan cats held suspicions against them. Duskclan, on the other hand, would probably reject them mostly, like Cinderstar had. _We will have to watch our border, despite what Rowanstar said... something tells me this may not just be an empty threat,_ she thought.

"Hey, Fallstar, you coming?" The black leader blinked and looked down to meet Oakfur's gaze. He stared up at her, worry shining in his yellow-green eyes. The rest of the Chanceclan cats had gathered around him.

"Yes, I'm coming." She stood, and jumped from the rock. Walking past her cats, she took up the lead, and followed Dawnclan's pah out of the gathering place. The walk back was troubling for Fallstar. She couldn't get rid of the feeling that Cinderstar meant to fulfill his warning. She sighed, hearing the words of her former mentor from her life before; _Threats must be eliminated.__ Every great leader knows this._ She couldn't help but hope that Cinderstar wasn't the type of leader her mentor had been referring to.

Oakfur came up next to her, and then matched her pace. "So, what do you expect from Cinderstar and his clan?" he meowed, breaking her train of thought.

"Trouble, to say the least. Clearly he's searching for a fight. We will have to be careful." She then glanced back at the warriors behind her and meowed, "We can discuss the details when we reach camp." He nodded, seeming to understand that she didn't want to upset the warriors.

When they finally reached the camp, she waited in the center for her warriors to disappear in their dens, but instead the cats that had been sleeping emerged to meet them. "How did the gathering go?" One cat asked. Fallstar turned to see her sister, Darksong.

She moved to gently touch noses with her, and then meowed, "As expected, I'm afraid. Dawnclan seems to have accepted us mostly, but Duskclan... their leader sees us as a threat, so we shall see them as a threat." Her sister nodded, seeming to understand. "You should rest. We can discuss all of this tomorrow."

"With all due respect, Fallstar, we cannot rest. We all want to know what is happening now," her sister meowed. Ripples of agreement passed through the crowd.

"Alright..." not bothering to call a gathering, she began to explain what had happened at the gathering. "In response, I want more border patrols, and I want everyone to be on their guard." She sighed. _We are too young for this. Our clan is not ready for such a confrontation. _"That is all. Get some rest." This time, nobody protested.

"I'll make sure the clan is ready for anything, Fallstar." Oakfur meowed as he padded up to her. She nodded gratefully to her deputy, knowing she could count on him. She then slipped off to her den and allowed herself to sleep.

* * *

ALLIANCES

**Dawnclan**

Leader

**Rowanstar**- Brown tabby she-cat with white markings and golden eyes.

Deputy

**Sablestorm** - Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Heatherwhisker** - Dark copper tabby she-cat with white markings.

Warriors

**Sandstone** - Sand colored tom. **Apprentice, Wolfpaw.**

**Gingerclaw** - Ginger colored tom. **Apprentice, Shadepaw.**

**Braveheart** - Once timid black she-cat. **Apprentice, Lightningpaw.**

**Silverwing** - Pretty silver she-cat with a small scar above her eye. **Apprentice, Squirrelpaw**

Apprentices

**Wolfpaw** - Dark gray and black tortoiseshell tom with blue-gray eyes.

**Shadepaw** - Black tom with dark eyes.

**Lightningpaw** - pale golden tabby tom.

**Squirrelpaw** - squirrel colored she-cat.

Queens

**Rippleshine** - Siamese she-cat.(mate- Sablestorm)

**Hazelleaf** - Golden she-cat. (mate- Gingerclaw. kits- Owlkit, and Sunkit.)

Elders

**Cloudedeyes** - old gray she-cat. Blind.

**Duskclan**

Leader

**Cinderstar** - Broad shouldered dark gray tabby tom.

Deputy

**Willowhisp** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with emerald eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Moonsoul** - Dark blue point she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Warriors

**Whispspirit** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes.

**Thornmouth** - Older, battle scarred brown tom with a very short temper. **Apprentice, Clovepaw**

Apprentices

**Clovepaw**- Dark brown tabby tom.

**Chanceclan**

Leader

**Fallstar**- Completely black she-cat with golden eyes and a long, jagged scar along her left side.

Deputy

**Oakfur**- Dark brown tabby tom with yellow-green eyes and a scar across his chest.

Medicine Cat

**Aquasky** - Long haired blue she-cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors

**Mystictail** - dark blue, almost black she-cat. She looks black with a blue sheen. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Poppypaw**

**Wolfclaw** - Brown and gray tom with long, abnormal sized claws. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Quickpaw**

**Brakenclaw** - Bracken colored tortoiseshell tom. Senior warrior.

**Darksong - **Black she-cat and sister of Fallstar. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Reefpaw**

**Maplefur** -Red tabby she-cat with aqua eyes. She's blind in one eye, and a scar crosses that side of her face.

**Shadowleap - **Black and gray tom. Fallstar's brother.

**Singinglark - **beautiful golden tabby she-cat with a white chest, belly and paws, and piercing, icy blue eyes.

**Firestripe** - brown tom with white and orange calico-like markings and green eyes.

**Echocliff - **gray tom with dark blue eyes.

**Shadedmoon - **Shadedmoon is a long-haired light silver she-cat with darker patches. Her voice was damaged in the fire that killed her in her previous life, and so it's very raspy, and sometimes when her throat is dry, she can't talk at all.

Apprentices

**Poppypaw - **Dark orange she-cat with black patches and yellow eyes.

**Quickpaw - **black and white tom.

**Reefpaw - **pale cream colored she-cat.

Queens

**Whitebird - **white she-cat with pale brown speckles. (mate- Echocliff. Kits- Lightningkit and Juniperkit)


	4. Chapter 3: Tradegy Strikes

Chapter 3  
Tragedy Strikes

A loud yowl woke Sabblestorm from his sleep. He shot to his feet and ran out of his den, totally expecting to see Duskclan cats pouring into the camp, but the clearing was empty. Another pain filled yowl echoed through the camp. Suddenly, he knew that yowl. It was Rippleshine.

He tore across the clearing as if his life depended on it, his heart racing madly. He barely slowed down in time to make it into the den without falling. Once inside, he was quickly at the young queens side. She was curled up on herself, clearly in pain. "Rippleshine!" he meowed. She looked up at him, her blue eyes filled with pain and fear. "What do I do?"

"Go get Heatherwhisker, furball!" A cat called from behind him. He turned to see Hazelleaf moving towards them. "Well, don't just stand there looking like a mousebrain, go!" He blinked, coming out of his panicked stupor, and raced back out of the den.

He headed to the tree next to the warrior's den and climbed under it. "Heatherwhisker!" he meowed desperately into the darkness.

"I'm coming," came the muffled reply. Out came the dark copper tabby, a bundle of herbs clutched in her jaw. He flipped around, ran across the clearing again, and dove back into the nursery. Heatherwhisker was following so close, he could feel the she-cat's breath on his back.

He ran to Rippleshine's side. Her whole body was shaking, and she had stopped meowing, though her body was being racked by painful spasms. She was quickly becoming exhausted. Hazelleaf was standing behind her, liking her side vigorously. When Heatherwhisker showed up, she backed up and then turned to him. She nosed him in the side, and said, "Give the pour thing some room to breath."

"But..." he started, but the stern look on her face forced him to move.

She walked over to her nest where her two kits lay curled up together, obviously scared. "It's alright, everything is going to be okay," she cooed softly as she gently licked each of them on the head with the gentleness only a mother could muster. "Come on, let's go outside, shall we?" she then wrapped her tail around them both and corralled them outside. Sabblestorm followed.

By now, the clan had started to gather, awaken by Rippleshine's yowls. Hazelleaf quickly moved her kits away from the nursery and sat down. They huddled close to her, quickly pestering her with questions. Sabblestorm plopped down outside the nursery, sighing. He was scared beyond belief for his mate, but had no way to help her. He felt useless, and most of all, like he had failed Rippleshine in some way.

It seemed like moons before Heatherwhisker finally reappeared. She looked exhausted. He was quickly at her side, trying to push past her to get to his mate. "Don't," she meowed softly, and his heart sunk.

"What happened?" he demanded, feeling his world collapse.

"She needs to rest, if she is to make it," Heatherwhisker replied.

"So she's okay?" he asked.

"Mostly..." The medicine cat looked almost defeated. "There were... complications. I'm sorry, Sabblestorm, but... I don't know if any of them are going to make it. One of the kits died immediately; the poor thing didn't stand a chance. The other four are weak at best... and Rippleshine... there's no saying what cost this had on her body."

"But will she live?" he pressed.

The medicine cat bowed her head, and Sabblestorm feared the worse. "All I can say is pray Starclan is watching over her." she then plopped down, guarding her patient. He sat next to her. Slowly, the clan dispersed, except for one. Gingerclaw padded forward to sit next to Sabblestorm. The two tom's gazes met, and Sabblestorm knew Gingerclaw understood. He pressed close to his friend, thankful for his comfort. Heatherwhisker went back into the den several times, and sometimes took herbs in with her, but most of the time, she just stayed near the entrance, making sure no cat disturbed the queen inside.

At one point Rowanstar came by and asked how Rippleshine was doing. when Heatherwhisker replied that nothing was certain yet, she turned to her deputy. He saw his pain reflected in her eyes, and once again realized how great of a leader she was. "Don't worry about anything today, I'll make sure patrols go out and everything. Your job is to keep me updated on how fast Rippleshine is recovering, okay?" Her voice was full of hope, despite the underlying sorrow, and he could tell she was being overly optimistic for his sake. He nodded, feeling somewhat grateful, but he was too lost in his sorrow to really acknowledge it.

It was after highsun when Heatherwhisker came out looking a little more hopeful. "One of the kits is going to make it, for sure. He's a strong little fur ball," she informed him.

Joy surged through Sabblestorm before fear replaced it. "What about Rippleshine and the other two?" he asked carefully.

"Rippleshine hasn't gotten worse... but she hasn't gotten better, either. The other two have improved, but I'm not sure yet. They probably will survive," she replied. He sighed, worry for his mate and kits surging through him, mixed with happiness for the one healthy son, and sorrow from the death of his other kit.

Heatherwhisker walked back into the den, and did not leave until sunset. Gingerclaw did not leave his side except for once, and he brought back prey for the both of them. Sabblestorm picked at his, until his friend urged him to eat it. "You need to save your strength, for your son," he told him, "eat." He then ate the rest, but he didn't taste a single bite of it.

Heatherwhisker finally stepped out of the den. She sighed. "The kits are doing well, and Rippleshine is going to make it. She's awake, but very tired. If you want to see her, make it quick. Sabblestorm was already in the den by the time she said 'quick'.

He padded carefully towards Rippleshine, almost as if he might brake her if he was too loud or moved too quickly. She opened her eyes when he approached, but didn't try and lift her head. She just stared at him, her blue eyes a bit dazed, but relieved. "Sabblestorm?" She whispered so softly he could barely hear her.

"I'm here, love. It's all right now," he meowed soothingly. She sighed, and let her eyes droop shut. He sat next to her, and gently licked her ears, purring softly.

She then opened her eyes again and looked up to him. "Are... my kits okay?" she meowed, sounding worried.

"Yes, they are all fine," he lied. He wouldn't tell her about the other kit. There were only three cats alive that knew, and he would tell them not to tell her.

"One isn't. I knew he was dead," she meowed, her voice even softer than before.

_So she knows... _he thought, and then meowed, "Besides that one, they're fine."

She nodded slightly, and her eyelids drooped shut again. He was about to leave to let her rest when she looked up again. "Sabblestorm? Stay with me, please. I don't want to be alone." He nodded and laid down behind her. He gently began grooming her fur. She quickly fell into a deep sleep. Once her eyelids closed, he couldn't move his nose away from her side to make sure she didn't stop breathing. Once he did look up, to glance at the small bundles at her side. Pride swelled through his emotionally racked self at the site of them. They would be okay. He mourned over the death of one of his kits, but he had four other healthy kits, and a beautiful mate, and a wonderful clan to call home. He would be okay.

* * *

It didn't take long for Rippleshine to recover. Though both her and Sabblestorm knew she would never quite be the same, Heatherwhisker said she had returned to full health. They had named them slowly, as their personalities progressed. The first one, a small ginger colored tom they named Gingerkit, after Sabblestorm's close friend, Gingerclaw. The youngest one and the runt of the group was a small lilac tortoiseshell she-cat. They had named her Gentlepaw. Their was also a siamese and a blue point. The Siamese was a she-cat, and looked just like the kit's mother. They named her Sandkit, because of her sand colored fur. The blue point tom they named Silverkit.

The kits began moving around, slowly growing and becoming stronger. One day, Sabblestorm sat outside the nursery, Rippleshine at his side, while his four kits explored the world for the first time. They had just opened their eyes, and Rippleshine had decided to take them outside. Hazelleaf's kits were also outside, showing their newfound friends around. "Owlkit?" Sandkit squeaked as she padded up to the older kit. "Where are we?"

"We're in Dawnclan, our home. I told you that, Sandkit," he meowed. His tone was surprisingly gentle.

"Oh..." the kit looked totally lost. "You did?"

"Yup," Owlkit meowed with a slight smile.

"Oh..." the kit muttered again. She then shrugged over dramatically, and then turned and crouched in front of Owlkit. "Wet's pway!" she meowed. Sabblestorm grinned at how she had mispronounced 'let's play'. _Kit's are so cute,_ he thought.

"Oh, alright, we can play," Owlkit resented. He acted as if he was above playing like a kit, but Sabblestorm could see the excited gleam in his eyes. The kits gathered their siblings, and then they started playing some sort of game Sabblestorm couldn't follow.

Suddenly Shadepaw padded up. The dark coated tom had a mischievous grin on his face, which made Sabblestorm frown in concern. "Can we play too?" he meowed, his tone a bit too friendly.

"Uh..." Owlkit meowed, sounding a bit nervous. "Aren't you a little big?"

"To play? Are you kidding me?" Shadepaw meowed. "I even came up with a new game we can play."

"Reawy?" Sandkit meowed, padding up next to Owlkit.

"Uh huh. Even little furballs like you can play," Shadepaw replied.

"Okay! I wanna pway!" Sandkit exclaimed. She then looked confused again. Leaning closer to Owlkit, she meowed in a loud whisper, "Wait, what's a furbawl?

"Uh, I'll tell you later," he told the young she-cat. She pouted a little, but he had turned away, looking to Shadepaw. "How do you play?"

Shadepaw began explaining his game. Sabblestorm's kits quickly gathered around Owlkit and the apprentice. Sabblestorm quickly noticed that the longer he explained, the more complicated it became. The younger kits were quickly confused, but Owlkit frowned, looking irritated. When Gentlekit said she was confused, Shadepaw started to laugh. "Aw... the pour wittle kitty's too stupid to understand?" this only confused Gentlekit more, but Owlkit seemed to realize what had happened.

"You did that on purpose!" Owlkit meowed, now mad.

"Yeah, so?" Shadepaw meowed.

"Why would you do that? You know their too young to understand. Why do you take advantage of them like that?" Owlkit demanded.

"Um, maybe because I'm bored, and their stupid confused little faces are hilarious?" Shadepaw replied with a smirk.

"They are not stupid! You used to be a kit too, you know. You weren't always the brightest one in the bunch!: Owlkit meowed, now furious.

"I'm not the stupid one who gets confused over the simplest things," Shadepaw meowed, the smirk still present, her voice annoyingly calm. His tone grated on Sabblestorm's nerves too, but he decided to wait and see how Owlkit handled things.

"No, your the stupid one to make fun of kits!" Owlkit snapped. For some reason, this angered Shadepaw. Sabblestorm could see it in his dark eyes. He didn't expect his next move though. If he had, Sabblestorm would have stopped him.

Shadepaw slashed out at Owlkit with one paw, claws extended. Owlkit flinched back, but their was no avoiding the blow. Sabblestorm ran forward, but he knew he wouldn't get there in time to prevent the kit from being hurt. Luckily, he hadn't been the only cat that was watching the fight; he hadn't noticed it, but Hazelflare had moved closer as the two argued. She became a flash of fur and action as she pushed her kit away, taking the blow for him. Her thicker fur saved her from most of it, but blood still sprung from the wound. She didn't even flinch as she turned to face the younger cat, her eyes blazing with fury. "How _dare _you strike out at a kit!" she growled. "Get out of here! I will not have you around my kits again- or any kits, for that matter." Shadepaw scrambled backwards, clearly surprised. He then stopped, flicked his tail in disgust, and padded off.

Sabblestorm approached the queen and asked if she was okay. "I'm fine," she huffed. She glared over her shoulder at the retreating tom, and then turned to Owlkit. Sunkit had padded up next to her brother. Hazelleaf gently pushed both towards the nursery, deciding play time was over. Rippleshine followed suit, sense her kits no longer seemed in the mood to explore. Sabblestorm was left in the middle of the camp, staring at the apprentice den in confusion. _Why did Shadepaw act that way? _he wondered. Shaking his head, he turned away.

* * *

A week later, Sabblestorm was awoken by another yowl. Many dreams had haunted him of Rippleshine in pain for quite some time now, so he was about to dismiss the yowl as another dream, when he noticed other cats around him were awake, and Gingerclaw was missing. Sabblestorm stood and left the warrior den. He padded outside and looked around, wondering who had yowled. What he found made his blood run cold. Over to one side of the camp lay three, bloodstained heaps of fur. Standing over them, his claws covered in blood, was a stunned looking Shadepaw. Sabblestorm ran to his side and meowed, "What happened here?"

"I... I don't know," Shadepaw meowed. Sabblestorm stared at the cats at the apprentice's feet. To his horror, he found Hazelleaf and her two kits before him. He moved to the queen and sniffed her pelt. She was still breathing, but she was barely breathing.

As he turned to the kits, other cats gathered. "Get Heatherwhisker, quickly!" he meowed urgently. He then turned to the two kits. To his dismay, he discovered Sunkit was dead already, and Owlkit wasn't much better off. _Who could have done this?_ He then thought of Shadepaw. He had been standing over the three, his claws soaked in blood. He turned to him. He hadn't moved. "What happened?" he meowed again, more sternly.

"I... I don't know, Sabblestorm, honest. I found them like this," Shadepaw meowed, his voice very quiet.

"Why are your paws soaked in blood?" Sabblestorm demanded. He couldn't help but be suspicious. He looked down at them, as if discovering them for the first time, and then looked back up to Sablestorm. Fear had filled his dark blue eyes. _Why is he only now afraid?_

He suddenly started shifting from paw to paw, and then started to dig his claws into the ground. "I don't know! Some cat killed them. It wasn't me!" he yowled.

"Nobody accused you of anything, Shadepaw. Why would you be worried we thought you killed them?" Rowanstar meowed, padding up behind them.

Shadepaw turned to her, and then stared at the ground. "I didn't mean it that way..." he muttered.

Rowanstar frowned. "Stop trying to wipe the blood off your paws, Shadepaw, it won't help you any," she suddenly ordered. _Does she think he did it? _Sabblestorm thought in surprise. Rowanstar was staring at the apprentice's paws. "Tell me, Shadepaw, why is there golden fur between your claws?" she snapped, suddenly angry.

"I..." he muttered, but came up with no viable excuse.

Sabblestorm's eyes widened in horror. Suddenly he put two and two together. Shadepaw had gotten into an argument earlier with the very cats that were now at the brink of death in front of him. He had their blood and Hazelleaf's fur on his claws. Would he really kill for such a small argument? Apparently. All the evidence pointed towards him, there was no avoiding that fact.

Heatherwhisker showed up, carrying herbs again. "Oh dear... what happened?" she muttered, but she didn't wait for an answer. She started to bandage the cat's wounds with cobweb, applying herbs as she went. "Here, Sabblestorm, help me get them back to my den," she meowed. He walked forward, and grabbed on to the Hazelleaf's scruff. Heatherwhisker crouched and he pulled the queen onto her back. He then slipped under her two, and together they carried their unconscious clan-mate away from the pool of blood in the center of the camp. Owlkit was brought in a few moments after, by his father, Gingerclaw. He laid the kit in the nest next to his mother. When Sabblestorm sat next to him, the ginger warrior buried his face in Sabblestorm's fur. Sabblestorm bowed his head, morning with his friend.

Suddenly Heatherwhisker cried out in sorrow. "I lost her... oh no... Hazelleaf, come back! Oh..." the medicine cat bowed her head, and then moved away from the limp queen to her remaining patient. Gingerclaw moaned and moved towards the body of his mate, looking heartbroken. Sabblestorm moved with him, keeping close, silently letting him know that he was here for his friend. He knew what it was like to loose a kit, and he had almost lost his mate too. _Pour Gingerclaw. _

After a few moments, Rowanstar poked her head in. "Sabblestorm, I need to talk to you," he nodded, and then turned to his friend. He gently pressed his nose to the ginger's tom's shoulder, feeling bad for leaving him.

"I'll watch over him," Heatherwhisker meowed as he padded up.

"What about Owlkit?" He asked.

"I can watch them both," she meowed. She then pushed some seeds towards Gingerclaw. "Here, Gingerclaw, their poppyseeds. They'll make you feel better."

Sabblestorm stood and padded out, looking for his leader. She stood in the center of camp, in front of Braveheart and Silverwing. Shadepaw, with his head bowed, sat in between the two warriors. Sabblestorm padded up to Rowanstar and meowed, "What do you need, Rowanstar?"

"I need to know what exactly you saw. Did you see any evidence of another cat involved?" Rowanstar meowed, her tone completely business, none of her usual kindness present.

"No. The only cats I saw were the injured ones, and Shadepaw," he answered, his voice taking on the same tone.

"Did you actually _see _Shadepaw hurt them?" she asked.

"No." He replied simply.

She sighed. "Even though we didn't see him actually hurt them, the fur that clings to his claws has to be Hazelleaf. I can't ignore that. Shadepaw, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

The dark apprentice bowed his head lower, as if trying to hide from the leader's piercing gaze. "I was mad at Owlkit, I will admit that, but I wouldn't kill. Ever. Honest."

"Then how do you explain the fur and blood on your paws?" she meowed.

"I... can't." Shadepaw whispered.

Rowanstar sighed again, looking almost hurt. She then meowed for a gathering. Slowly the rest of the clan gathered. Gingerclaw came and sat next to Sabblestorm. "I thought you would be asleep, did you not take the poppyseeds?" Sabblestorm asked.

When Gingerclaw turned to meet his gaze, hate burned in his eyes. "I had to find out what happened to the murderer of my mate and daughter," he meowed curtly. Sabblestorm nodded.

The two turned towards Rowanstar as she began to speak. "Shadepaw, I call you here, because you have been marked a suspect for the murder of Hazelleaf and Sunkit. Is there anyone with evidence of a differing killer?" The crowd remained silent. She continued. "I have no definite proof you killed them, but I can't deny the evidence that does point towards you. I cannot have a murderer living in my clan. From now on, Shadepaw, you are no longer welcome in Dawnclan's territory. Leave now. If any of my warriors catch you on our territory, the _will _kill you. Is that clear?" Shadepaw nodded curtly. "Go, then." He stood, his head held defiantly, and padded out of the camp. Sabblestorm watched him go. Rowanstar turned to him. "Make sure he leaves." He nodded, and then followed Shadepaw out.

He followed the apprentice through their territory. At first, he paused, seeming unsure where to go. He then turned away, heading towards Duskclan territory. _Is he going to join them? _Sabblestorm wondered. He followed the apprentice to the border, and then waited a few moments. When he was certain Shadepaw was deep in Duskclan territory, he returned to camp.

He then padded towards Rowanstar. "What do we do about Owlkit?" he meowed.

"If he lives, he will become an apprentice. He will be six moons in a couple of days. I would like you to be his mentor, if you will," she requested. He nodded. "His sister would have made a fine apprentice as well, and their mother should be here to see them," she added, her tone full of sadness. She then shook her head, and padded back towards her den.

* * *

It took Owlkit three days to heal well enough to sleep outside the medicine den, but he never left. Without his mother and sister, he didn't bother trying to move back into the nursery- it would be too painful for him. Another couple of days past, and Heatherwhisker said he was ready to become an apprentice. Rowanstar called the meeting at sunhigh. "We gather here today to name a new apprentice. Come here, Owlkit." The young brown tom stepped forward. Sabblestorm could see how the death of his mother and sister had swept away the remainder of his kithood. He now looked serious, if not brooding, as he padded up to Rowanstar. Sabblestorm's heart ached for him. No cat should have to experience something so young. Rowanstar continued, drawing Sabblestorm from his dark thoughts. "From this moment on, until he earns his warrior name, this apprentice shall be known as Owlpaw."

Rowanstar then turned her golden eyes on Sabblestorm. "Sabblestorm, you are my deputy, and a great warrior. I know you will train this apprentice well." He stood and touched noses with his new apprentice, and then returned to the crowd. Rowanstar dismissed the meeting, and Sabblestorm turned to Owlpaw.

Before he could say anything, Owlpaw meowed, "I really don't feel like training today, Sabblestorm. Could we start tomorrow? I promise I'll be ready then."

"Alright, Owlpaw. You can talk to me, if you need to, you know," Sabblestorm informed him gently.

He nodded. Suddenly, his calm demeanor broke, and the sorrow he felt broke through. His pale blue turned to him, and he softly meowed, "They should be here. I shouldn't have been the only apprentice named today. Sunkit..." his voice broke at the end, turning into a sorrow filled moan. He bowed his head, his small frame shaking with pain.

"I'm sorry, Owlpaw. I miss them too. Your mother was a good friend of mine," he meowed softly.

Suddenly Owlpaw looked up, hate making his blue eyes cold. He looked twice as old, and a bit terrifying. "I'm going to find him. He'll pay for this," he growled, and then he turned and padded towards the apprentice den. Sabblestorm watched him go, not sure if he should cheer him on, or scold him that revenge wasn't the right thing to do. At that moment, as he beheld his friend and his apprentice's sorrow, he felt like ripping Shadepaw's throat out too.

* * *

ALLIANCES

**Dawnclan**

Leader

**Rowanstar**- Brown tabby she-cat with white markings and golden eyes.

Deputy

**Sablestorm** - Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes. **Apprentice, Owlpaw**

Medicine Cat

**Heatherwhisker** - Dark copper tabby she-cat with white markings.

Warriors

**Sandstone** - Sand colored tom. **Apprentice, Wolfpaw.**

**Gingerclaw** - Ginger colored tom.

**Braveheart** - Once timid black she-cat. **Apprentice, Lightningpaw.**

**Silverwing** - Pretty silver she-cat with a small scar above her eye. **Apprentice, Squirrelpaw**

Apprentices

**Wolfpaw** - Dark gray and black tortoiseshell tom with blue-gray eyes.

**Lightningpaw** - pale golden tabby tom.

**Squirrelpaw** - squirrel colored she-cat.

**Owlpaw - **Tan tom with a white belly, chest, and chin. He has blue pale eyes.

Queens

**Rippleshine** - Siamese she-cat.(mate- Sablestorm Kits- Gingerkit, Silverkit, Gentlekit, Sandkit)

Elders

**Cloudedeyes** - old gray she-cat. Blind.

**Duskclan**

Leader

**Cinderstar** - Broad shouldered dark gray tabby tom.

Deputy

**Willowhisp** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with emerald eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Moonsoul** - Dark blue point she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Warriors

**Whispspirit** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes.

**Thornmouth** - Older, battle scarred brown tom with a very short temper. **Apprentice, Clovepaw**

Apprentices

**Clovepaw**- Dark brown tabby tom.

**Chanceclan**

Leader

**Fallstar**- Completely black she-cat with golden eyes and a long, jagged scar along her left side.

Deputy

**Oakfur**- Dark brown tabby tom with yellow-green eyes and a scar across his chest.

Medicine Cat

**Aquasky** - Long haired blue she-cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors

**Mystictail** - dark blue, almost black she-cat. She looks black with a blue sheen. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Poppypaw**

**Wolfclaw** - Brown and gray tom with long, abnormal sized claws. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Quickpaw**

**Brakenclaw** - Bracken colored tortoiseshell tom. Senior warrior.

**Darksong - **Black she-cat and sister of Fallstar. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Reefpaw**

**Maplefur** -Red tabby she-cat with aqua eyes. She's blind in one eye, and a scar crosses that side of her face.

**Shadowleap - **Black and gray tom. Fallstar's brother.

**Singinglark - **beautiful golden tabby she-cat with a white chest, belly and paws, and piercing, icy blue eyes.

**Firestripe** - brown tom with white and orange calico-like markings and green eyes.

**Echocliff - **gray tom with dark blue eyes.

**Shadedmoon - **Shadedmoon is a long-haired light silver she-cat with darker patches. Her voice was damaged in the fire that killed her in her previous life, and so it's very raspy, and sometimes when her throat is dry, she can't talk at all.

Apprentices

**Poppypaw - **Dark orange she-cat with black patches and yellow eyes.

**Quickpaw - **black and white tom.

**Reefpaw - **pale cream colored she-cat.

Queens

**Whitebird - **white she-cat with pale brown speckles. (mate- Echocliff. Kits- Lightningkit and Juniperkit)


	5. Chapter 4: Shadepaw's Future

Chapter 4  
Shadepaw's Future

Three moons later, leaf-fall was just starting, and Dawnclan was growing stronger. Rowanstar walked out of her den as the sun set behind her. She was about to name three apprentices, Wolfpaw, Lightningpaw, and Squirrelpaw as warriors. She jumped up on the willow branch above her den, and then called for the clan to gather. "All cats old enough see the world gather in font of my den for a Clan meeting." He words echoed out over the camp, and she saw the cats begin to respond to her call. Once they were all present, she called out over the small crowd. "Wolfpaw, Lightningpaw, Squirrelpaw, please step forward." The three apprentices stepped forward. Wolfpaw looked content, like he was expecting this, but Lightningpaw was totally surprised, and Squirrelpaw looked excited. Rowanstar smiled, and then continued. "I, Rowanstar, leader of Dawnclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these three apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your code and I commend them to you as warriors. Wolfpaw, Lightningpaw, and Squirrelpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Wolfpaw smiled slightly, looking silently confident. "I do," he meowed. His eyes gleamed, showing his pride. Rowanstar nodded.

She turned to Lightningpaw. He sat staring at his paws, looking nervous, and for a brief moment Rowanstar wondered if something was wrong. He then looked up to meet her gaze, and with the same confidence as Wolfpaw. "I do," he meowed. Rowanstar nodded again.

She turned to the last apprentice, the only she-cat of the three. Squirrelpaw smiled wide as she nodded and said, "I do." Rowanstar nodded to the young she-cat as a smile spread of her her maw.

"Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warriors names: Wolfpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Wolfheart. Starclan honors you for your kind heart and confidence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Dawnclan." Wolfheart bowed his head respectfully, and Rowanstar touched her nose to his bowed head.

She then turned to Lightningpaw. "Lightningpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Lightningpelt. Starclan honors you for your bravery and honesty, and welcomes you as a full warrior of Dawnclan." She touched her nose to his head too, and then turned to Squirrelpaw once more.

"Squirrelpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Squirreltail. Starclan honors you for your fighting spirit, and for you courage, and welcomes you as a full warrior of Dawnclan." As she touched her nose to the red she-cat's head, the clan began calling out the knew warrior's names. "As is tradition, these new warriors must stand vigil tonight while we sleep. It will start once the sun has disappeared beyond the horizon, so be ready, you three." She then dismissed the clan as she jumped down from the willow branch she sat in. She watched as her deputy, Sabblestorm, padded up to the three knew warriors and meowed his congratulations. When he moved away, Rowanstar padded up to him. "Sablestorm, tomorrow, I would like you to take our newest warriors on a patrol. It will be a good thing for them go on a patrol now that they're warriors."

"Of course, Rowanstar. I bet they will be very happy to go." he then smiled. "I bet they'll want to sleep first."

Rowanstar rolled her eyes, allowing her formal demeanor to fall as his did. "Duh, furball," she joked. "I expected you would have already known that." She had always been close to her deputy; they had trained together, and Rowanstar was only a few moons older than him.

He laughed. "I'll send them out on the midday patrol," he informed her.

"The morning patrol I'll handle," Rowanstar said. When she noticed his surprised expression, she said, "I feel as if I'm always just sitting around camp, giving orders. I've decided I'm going to go on a boarder patrol at least once a moon. Most of the time I'll stay here like I do to take care of issues, but I don't always want to be cramped up."

He nodded slowly. "Alright, I think that should be okay. On the ones you go, I'll stay behind, so there's someone to run the camp when your gone," he meowed. She nodded. After a pause, he added, "Want to share some prey with me?"

She smiled at her old friend. "Sure." He nodded, and then padded over to the fresh-kill pile and grabbed a large piece of prey. He brought it back over to her, and the two ate the prey. As they did, they chatted about different things, mainly the state of the three clans. So far, peace had remained amongst them, but she had noticed many patrols on both Duskclan and Chanceclan's boarders. Clearly they did not trust each other, and it made her nervous. She would prefer to not have her clan stuck in the middle of their fighting.

"Hey, Rowanstar, you in there?" Sablestorm meowed. She blinked, realizing she had accidentally tuned out the tortoiseshell tom. She felt her fur grow a little hot with embarrassment.

"Sorry. Did you say something?" she meowed apologetically.

"Yeah, I asked what you think of Chanceclan," Sablestorm meowed.

"Oh... you already know what I think," she replied.

"I'm asking for your honest opinion, the one you haven't told anybody. The one you wouldn't dare tell the clan," Sablestorm insisted.

She sighed, knowing what he meant. Beyond her usual nice demeanor, there was things she felt that she rarely told anyone. "To be honest, Sablestorm, the kind of scare me... but I know Starclan sent them. Over time, I think I will get used to them," she told him softly.

"It's good to know I'm not the only one that feels that way," Sablestorm meowed. He seemed a bit relieved. The two fell into silence as they finished the prey. "I'm going to go visit Rippleshine, see how she's doing," Sabblestorm eventually said. Rowanstar nodded, and watched as he stood and headed towards the nursery. Alone, her thoughts wandered. She thought of Chanceclan again, and Duskclan's obvious hostility towards them. She figured if they did start fighting, the two clans would expect her clan to take a side. _Hopefully it doesn't come to that,_ she thought as she stood and walked to her den. She curled up in her nest and slowly dozed.

* * *

The next morning, Rowanstar padded out of her den and moved towards the three warriors sitting in the middle of the camp. "You can speak now," she informed them, "How did it go?"

"It was silent, as expected," Wolfheart meowed. "No enemy warriors, no animal attacks, no strange visits from Starclan." His tone held just a hint of sarcasm. Lightningpelt stretched next to him, yawning. Squirreltail moved to stand next to her fellow warriors, looking sleepy.

"Get some sleep," Rowanstar meowed. She could tell the three needed it.

"Thank you," Squirreltail exclaimed, before hurrying to the apprentice's den. She then paused, and turned away. "I guess we don't sleep in here anymore, do we." She then moved across the camp and tentatively stuck her nose inside of the warrior's den. The two toms followed her, leaving Rowanstar alone. After a few moments, she followed them into the warriors den. Weaving her way carefully through the sleeping forms, she found Sandstone, Braveheart, and Silverwing. When she reached each warrior's side, she nosed their shoulders gently. Sablestorm had established this as a way to tell cats they were wanted for a patrol. That way, no talking was required, and the other cats sleeping in the den wouldn't have to be waken. She padded out just as silently, and waited with her tail wrapped around her paws for the warriors to join her.

After a few moments, Silverwing stepped out of the den. She stretched as the sun gleamed off of her silver pelt. She looked around, skimming the camp for a minute, and then her eyes landed on Rowanstar. She tilted her head to one side, looking lightly confused. "Rowanstar? Where's Sablestorm?" she asked. Clearly the she-cat hadn't expected Rowanstar. As the silver warrior spoke, Braveheart and Sandstone stepped out of the den to join Rowanstar and Silverwing.

"Sablestorm's still sleeping. I'm going to lead the patrol today; I've decided the leader should do more than sleep in her den and give orders," she explained. She then stood and headed towards the camp entrance, flicking her tail for the others to follow as she did.

The four cats padded through the chilly leaf-fall morning. They followed the boarder, starting on the side with no clan. Eventually, they made their way up and around, past Chanceclan's territory, and then came to the boarder they shared with Duskclan. As she approached the boarder, Rowanstar paused to scent the air. She could smell Duskclan's foul stench. Most was stale, but some was very recent. _No, not recent, current. There's Duskclan cats nearby,_ she realized. She continued along the boarder, keeping her eyes opened for those Duskclan warriors. Eventually, she noticed a group of cats moving towards her on Duskclan's side. She eyed the warriors, recognizing most of them. Then, her eyes landed on the warrior at the front. She knew him immediately. Silverwing stepped forward next to her. "Shadepaw?" she murmured as she stared at the young black tom at the head of the group.

Shadepaw's ears flicked in irritation. "It's Shadestorm now," he meowed curtly.

"You joined Duskclan?" Silverwing meowed. Rowanstar knew why the she-cat was so distressed; she was the dark warrior's mother. "Why?" she sounded disappointed, or, more accurately, hurt.

"Because they accepted me! They knew who actually killed the queen and her kits; it was a rouge, Jade, who they recently chased from their territory," Shadestorm explained.

Rowanstar blinked, surprised by his words. Clearly, the warriors with her were also surprised by this. "But..." Silverwing mumbled, "The blood... and the fur in your claws..."

"That was there because I fought the rouge. He was the same color as Hazelleaf; every cat with me can confirm it," Shadestorm meowed. "I wouldn't kill an innocent mother and kit. Not for something as simple as a fight between me and her kit. The kit that died wasn't even the kit that I argued with."

For a while, the cats stood silently on the boarder. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Rowanstar asked when she couldn't stand the silence anymore. "We wouldn't have sent you away..."

"I didn't tell you because... I wasn't thinking strait. I had really been in a battle like that before... and the death of my clan-mates really shook me... all the blood... their cold bodies..." Shadestorm said softly, his silver eyes looking haunted.

Rowanstar sighed shakily, realizing the huge mistake she had made. "I'm sorry Shadestorm... I... I had no idea... I would gladly welcome you back into the clan."

At this, Shadestorm's ears lay flat against his head. "I don't want back. nobody will trust me and that clan of yours now. You realize that, right? You've ruined any chance I had at happiness there. I'm fine where I'm at, in Duskclan," he hissed.

Rowanstar swallowed hard. She knew right away that Cinderstar would use this to his advantage against Dawnclan. "Well... um, if you change your mind, the offer stands." She then turned to her clan and meowed, "Let's keep going; we still have a lot of distance to go before night falls."

* * *

Just as the sun was setting two nights later, Rowanstar was munching on a peace of prey when Sablestorm comes running into camp. "Rowanstar," he mutters, breathless, "There's Duskclan warriors at the boarder, demanding to see you. They say if you don't come, they're going to march strait here."

She stood up instantly. "Let's grab some warriors. How many were there with them?"

"There's several. Whispspirit, Thornmouth, Shadestorm, Adderstripe, even Cinderstar showed up. There are a couple others I don't know," Sablestorm said in reply.

"Alright. Grab Sandstone, Wolfheart, Gingerclaw, Braveheart, and Silver- no, not Silverwing. I'm not going to make her fight her son... bring Lightningpelt too," Rowanstar instructed. Sablestorm nodded, disappeared into the warrior's den, and returned with the requested warriors. Together, the seven warriors ran to the boarder. They paused before reaching the boarder, and peered out at the waiting cats. "Alright, lets go. Try not to act hostile; I would rather prevent a war if I can. Let them attack first, if it must happen." Rowanstar stood up strait, her head and tail held high, making it clear who was in charge of the warriors next to her and the territories behind her. "Cinderstar? What is the meaning of this? You do realize you have no right to demand to see me."

"I have every right, when one of your warriors murder my deputy," the tom growled, glaring at Rowanstar.

"How dare you accuse my warriors of murder! Do you have any proof?" Rowanstar asked coldly.

"Shaestorm, my new deputy, witnessed the cat's death, at the hands of one of your warriors. Lightningpelt, was it?" Cinderstar meowed, as he glanced at Shadestorm. The dark tom nodded his agreement. Cinderstar turned back to Rowanstar, looking furious.

"I did _not _kill Willowwhisp!" Lightningpelt hissed from amongst the Dawnclan ranks. Rowanstar heard Sablestorm hush him. "No! I will not be blamed for this crime!"

Shadestorm sighed. "Lightningpelt, you were my friend when I still lived in your clan, but I cannot let this go. Why did you do it? Were you trying to start a war?" The dark tom looked distressed as he stared at Lightningpelt.

"I didn't do it!" Lightningpelt exclaimed. Rowanstar stared at Shadestorm, seriously starting to wonder if he was telling the truth. He eyed Lightningpelt for a little while longer, and then dropped his head, shaking it a bit in sadness. Rowanstar blinked, about to believe him, and then noticed the slight smile on his face. Realization dawned. _He's setting Lightningpelt up._ She had no clue why the former Dawnclaner would do something like that, but she had no doubt that he had dropped his head to try and hide the smile.

"I demand justice. Lightningpelt must die for his crimes," Cinderstar demanded.

"You have no right to demand this, and I do not believe the word of one cat of an enemy clan. I will fight for Lightningpelt's life if I must, but I would prefer us to move on," Rowanstar meowed calmly.

"What about Willowhisp! I want justice for his death!" Cinderstar growled.

"Justice? The death of an innocent warrior wouldn't be justice. I'm warning you, Cinderstar, I will not allow you to harm one of my warriors," Rowanstar replied. Though her tone remained calm, the threat in her words was clear.

"So be it," Cinderstar murmured, and, to Rowanstar's surprise, turned and walked away, signalling for his warriors to follow. She had been certain that it would have lead to fighting. As she watched them leave, she dismiss the feeling that she hadn't seen the last of this. She then turned, and with a flick of her tail, started back towards her own camp.

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Sablestorm muttered as walked up next to her. "We have no more proof then them that Lightningpelt didn't kill Willowhisp."

"I am certain," Rowanstar clipped.

"How?" Sablestorm pushed.

She stopped, and turned to face her deputy. "Because I saw the look in Shadestorm's eyes as he called Lightningstorm a murderer. He was lying. Staclan strike me down now if he wasn't." She sighed. "I don't trust him. He seemed so smug, and confident. We caught him for murder once, there's nothing saying he won't do it again. He's planning something, and I don't like it."

Sablestorm fell silent. Rowanstar turned away, and started back towards camp. When she reached the camp, Heatherwhisker approached her, a troubled look in her eyes. "Heatherwhisker?" Rowanstar meowed, "Is something wrong?"

"I need to talk to you alone, right away, Rowantstar," Heatherwhisker replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"To the treetops, then." Rowanstar padded towards the tree above her den, and the medicine cat followed. After climbing up into the high branches of the willow, Rowanstar sat down, and turned towards Heatherwhisker. "What is it that you need to tell me?"

Heatherwhisker plopped down with a sigh. "Rowanstar, Starclan visited me today."

"Really? Did they have something to say?" the tabby she-cat meowed back.

"Yes, and none of it was good," Heatherwhisker whispered.

"Tell me," Rowanstar demanded, nervousness coursing through her.

"They gave me a prophecy..." Heatherwhisker paused, and then she shifted her gaze away from the leader. She took on a far off look, and then started to softly meow the words Starclan had told her. "_Darkness approaches, that will engulf the forest. Dawn cannot break the darkness, and Dusk always gives away to midnight. There is a Chance to save the clans, but fear of something unknown may prevent this Chance. If left unchallenged, an eternal night will rule._"

Chilling silence fell over the two she-cats. After a moment, Heatherwhisker meowed, "Rowanstar, what could this darkness be?"

Rowanstar looked up to meet her medicine cat's gaze, and meowed one word; "Shadestorm."

* * *

ALLIANCES

**Dawnclan**

Leader

**Rowanstar**- Brown tabby she-cat with white markings and golden eyes.

Deputy

**Sablestorm** - Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes. **Apprentice, Owlpaw**

Medicine Cat

**Heatherwhisker** - Dark copper tabby she-cat with white markings.

Warriors

**Sandstone** - Sand colored tom.

**Wolfheart - **Dark gray and black tortoiseshell tom with blue-gray eyes.

**Gingerclaw** - Ginger colored tom.

**Braveheart** - Once timid black she-cat.

**Lightningpelt - **golden tabby tom.

**Silverwing** - Pretty silver she-cat with a small scar above her eye.

**Squirreltail - **squirrel colored she-cat.

Apprentices

**Owlpaw - **Tan tom with a white belly, chest, and chin. He has pale blue eyes.

Queens

**Rippleshine** - Siamese she-cat.(mate- Sablestorm Kits- Gingerkit, Silverkit, Gentlekit, Sandkit)

Elders

**Cloudedeyes** - old gray she-cat. Blind.

**Duskclan**

Leader

**Cinderstar** - Broad shouldered dark gray tabby tom.

Deputy

**Shadestorm** - Black tom with dark eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Moonsoul** - Dark blue point she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Warriors

**Whispspirit** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes.

**Thornmouth** - Older, battle scarred brown tom with a very short temper. **Apprentice, Clovepaw**

**Adderstripe - **Brown tom with markings that resemble a snake, and a sandy belly and paws.

Apprentices

**Clovepaw**- Dark brown tabby tom.

**Chanceclan**

Leader

**Fallstar**- Completely black she-cat with golden eyes and a long, jagged scar along her left side.

Deputy

**Oakfur**- Dark brown tabby tom with yellow-green eyes and a scar across his chest.

Medicine Cat

**Aquasky** - Long haired blue she-cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors

**Mystictail** - dark blue, almost black she-cat. She looks black with a blue sheen. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Poppypaw**

**Wolfclaw** - Brown and gray tom with long, abnormal sized claws. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Quickpaw**

**Brakenclaw** - Bracken colored tortoiseshell tom. Senior warrior.

**Darksong - **Black she-cat and sister of Fallstar. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Reefpaw**

**Maplefur** -Red tabby she-cat with aqua eyes. She's blind in one eye, and a scar crosses that side of her face.

**Shadowleap - **Black and gray tom. Fallstar's brother.

**Singinglark - **beautiful golden tabby she-cat with a white chest, belly and paws, and piercing, icy blue eyes.

**Firestripe** - brown tom with white and orange calico-like markings and green eyes.

**Echocliff - **gray tom with dark blue eyes.

**Shadedmoon - **Shadedmoon is a long-haired light silver she-cat with darker patches. Her voice was damaged in the fire that killed her in her previous life, and so it's very raspy, and sometimes when her throat is dry, she can't talk at all.

Apprentices

**Poppypaw - **Dark orange she-cat with black patches and yellow eyes.

**Quickpaw - **black and white tom.

**Reefpaw - **pale cream colored she-cat.

Queens

**Whitebird - **white she-cat with pale brown speckles. (mate- Echocliff. Kits- Lightningkit and Juniperkit)


	6. Chapter 5: Leverage for Deceit

Chapter 5  
Leverage for Deceit

Moonsoul, the Duskclan medicine cat, stepped out of her den and looked around the main cave. She frowned slightly when she saw two cats arguing nearby. One was Thornmouth, an older tom that had seen many battles and thought himself very wise. The other cat was Shadestorm, the clan's new deputy. Thornmouth clearly did not like nor trust the new deputy. Moonsoul rolled her eyes and padded closer. "Alright you two, what are you arguing about now?" she growled as she got closer.

Shadestorm turned to her, anger shining in his emerald eyes. "Last I checked, it was none of your business," he hissed.

"Of course it's my business. If you two start fighting, I'm the one that has to patch you up when your done! I would rather prevent a fight that clean up after one. So, are you going to tell me what your fighting about? Or should we tell Cinderstar about this?" she asked.

"Our new _deputy _keeps acting like he's leader now. Last time I checked, Cinderstar still has plenty of lives left," Thornmouth explained, his words clipped with frustration. He eyed Shadestorm, his gaze filled with hate and mistrust.

"I was simply trying to get this old furball to go on a boarder patrol or something, instead of lounging around in camp lazily," Shadestorm meowed curtly. "He acts as if he's already retired to the life of an elder, but he is still a warrior, and therefore has duties to complete."

"Shadestorm, have more respect for your elders!" Moonsoul demanded. "I don't care what rank you hold, Thornmouth is still older than you, and still deserves your respect."

Shadestorm rolled his eyes. "I've got better things to do that argue with an ancient furball and a stuck up medicine cat." With that, he turned and stormed off, heading for the camp entrance.

Thornmouth watched him go with an annoyed flick of his tail. He then turned towards Moonsoul. He seemed a bit calmer, but was clearly still pretty irritated. "I don't trust him, one bit. He waltzes in here, makes up some story about a murder in Dawnclan, and convinces the leader to accept him. Now, sense he's joined, this clan has seen more chaos than I can remember." Then, in a quieter tone, he added, "Adderstripe said he saw Shadestorm and Willowhisp leaving the camp together the day Willowhisp was murdered, and I've noticed that when Shadestorm's around, Clovepaw becomes extremely nervous. I think the apprentice knows something he's not telling me. I asked him about it a couple of times, but he refuses to talk. We both know that's not like Clovepaw at all."

Moonsoul frowned. "Are you saying Shadestorm had something to do with Willowhisp's death?" she asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. That's actually what we were arguing about; I asked him where he was the day of Willowhisp's death, and he immediately got all defensive on me. Yesterday, I went out to the boarder where he claimed Lightningpelt crossed over to our territory and killed Willowhisp. I didn't catch a single whiff of any Dawnclan cat on this side of the boarder, but there was a lot of Shadestorm's sent there, and Willowhisp's," Thornmouth muttered.

"Really? Hmm..." Moonsoul muttered. She was starting to see what Thornmouth was getting at. The evidence and Shadestorm's stories just didn't match up. _But why? _she wondered. _Killing Willowhisp wouldn't gar__entee him deputy; there were many older, more experienced cats Cinderstar could have chosen over him._

"And on top of it all, Lightningpelt was barely a warrior! He's actually Shadestorm's age! Willowhisp was an experienced fighter, with a lot of skill. There's no way a cat like Lightningpelt could have killed him," Thornmouth continued.

"If Lightningpelt couldn't how could Shadestorm?" Moonsoul asked. "From what I saw, Shadestorm and Lightningpelt were about the same ages."

"Shadestorm's a big cat, for his age, and he's a good fighter. I've seen him fight, and he might even rival Cinderstar. It's strange, for a cat so young to have such skills," Thornmouth looked puzzled as he said this. Then he shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it's just me getting old. I'm already searching for gossip like some elder." He chuckled, and padded off. Over his shoulder, he called back to her. "If you think it's worth mentioning to Cinderstar, by all means, do so. I would rather not have a murderer as our leader when Cinderstar finally passes on."

Moonsoul remained in the same spot for quite some time, and then returned to her den. For the rest of the day, she couldn't get what Thornmouth had said out of her mind. _Maybe I should tell Cinderstar about this, _ she pondered. _Thornmouth may be right..._ Though she felt she should, she decided not to trouble her leader with it now, until she was more sure of it. _After all, _she told herself, _This may just be Thornmouth searching for gossip._

Later that night, Moonsoul prepared to head to the gathering place. She wasn't going for a full clan gathering though; only the medicine cats of each clan were going to be there this time. Like every year previously, on the first night of Leafbare, the medicine cats gathered to discuss medicine cat like stuff; herbs, new healing tricks, any new diseases that might have cropped up, the overall health of their individual clans, and any prophecies they might have received were usually discussed. Anything said amongst the medicine cats stayed with the medicine cats, as to not cause any conflict, unless they felt it necessary to tell their leaders. If ever a situation cropped up where they did decide to share it with their leaders, they always decided together.

Just as the sun was setting, she stepped out of her den. As was tradition in Duskclan, Clovepaw waited outside her den. The eldest apprentice always escorted the Medicine Cat to the gathering. Being the only apprentice currently, Clovepaw had escorted her to the past couple of gatherings, and Moonsoul had grown fond of the young cat. "Hello Moonsoul," he meowed as she approached him.

"Hello," she replied. "Are you ready to go?"

"If you are," he told her.

"Then let's go," she meowed. She turned towards the entrance, and Clovepaw followed. Before they reached the entrance, Shadestorm entered the camp. "Shadestorm," she meowed, with a dip of her head in greeting. Just then she noticed that Clovepaw had moved up next to her, and was so close, he had pressed himself up against her side. When she met his gaze, she saw fear in his eyes.

"Moonsoul," Shadestorm meowed. She turned back to him and smiled. "You be careful out there. Never know what you might run into." She noticed with a bit of foreboding that the deputy was staring straight at the apprentice at her side, a knowing glint in his eyes. Clovepaw whimpered almost silently and pressed closer to Moonsoul.

"Of course, Shadestorm," Moonsoul meowed, forcing her words to sound calm. "Well, Clovepaw, we better get going." She started to pad past Shadestorm. Clovepaw hurried to keep up, and remained close to her as they exited the camp. Shadestorm watched them leave, his gaze sending shivers down Moonsoul's back. Once they were away from camp, she stopped and turned towards Clovepaw. She had never seen the young apprentice get so scared in her life; he was usually very brave, and had been sense the moment he was born. "Alright Clovepaw, why does Shadestorm scare you so much?" she asked. Though her words were demanding, her tone was gentle and inviting. She hoped the younger cat would feel he could confide in her, and would tell her exactly what bothered him so much.

"Is it that obvious?" he meowed, sounding disappointing in himself. She nodded, and he bowed his head. "I don't know... I guess he's just kind of intimidating," he muttered.

"You can tell me, Clovepaw. What's bothering you?" she encouraged.

"I... I..." he stumbled over his words, sounding reluctant to speak. Then he shuddered visibly, and muttered something else, so softly that Moonsoul didn't hear him.

"What? I can't here you, Clovepaw," she meowed, urging him to speak up.

He then looked up at her. Fear filled his green eyes, and the fur on the back of his neck stood on end. "I saw him murder Willowhisp," he told her. His voice was barely louder than the last time, but his words rang clear in her ears.

"Oh no..." she muttered. The hair along her spine rose too. All of Thornmouth's suspicions had just been confirmed. She shook her head, realizing what she had to do. _I have to tell Cinderstar, before any other cats get hurt, _she thought.

"And now I think he knows, Moonsoul. I'm pretty sure... and I'm scared. If he's willing to kill to get power, what will he be willing to do to me to keep it? That's why I haven't told anybody, until now. You have to help me, Moonsoul," Clovepaw meowed, his tone pleading.

"I will Clovepaw. I won't let him hurt you." She padded closer to the apprentice and sat next to him. She wrapped her tail around him, trying to comfort him. He buried his face in her shoulder as if trying to hide. For a brief moment she was reminded how young Clovepaw actually was. Because he often acted older, she tended to forget. After a few moments, she meowed, "Come on, Clovepaw. Let's go to this gathering. Afterward, we'll go talk to Cinderstar."

"I'll have to walk back on my own... He knows where I'm going!" Clovepaw exclaimed as he realized this.

Thinking quickly, she came up with a solution. "I'll let you stay, and then we can walk back together, alright?" Moonsoul meowed.

"But... I'm not supposed to be at the gathering. It's for medicine cats only," Clovepaw pointed out.

"It'll be alright, just this once. I'll tell the other medicine cats your debating becoming my apprentice, and you want to see what it's like being a medicine cat, so you've been following me around, to see what it's like. They won't mind." _I hope, _she added silently.

"Are you sure?" Clovepaw asked. She nodded. "Alright. That way, I won't be alone." He relaxed, and she sighed in relief.

"Alright, let's get going, shall we?" he nodded, and started towards the gathering place. Moonsoul followed. As they walked, she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder a couple of times, just to make sure they weren't being followed.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Oakfur, the Chanceclan medicine cat, meowed as he glanced at Clovepaw. Moonsoul, Clovepaw, and Oakfur had met up just before Oakfur had passed through the tall plants along the riverbank. When Clovepaw hadn't left like expected, Oakfur had commented about it. Moonsoul had quickly given him their excuse. He had objected, saying the gathering wasn't for cats until _after _they had become medicine cat, or at least medicine cat apprentice.

Moonsoul nodded. "We can trust him. He's a good cat," she assured. "This one exception won't hurt anything."

"Alright, then I guess he can come in." The brown tom flicked his tail, and the three moved into the clearing together. Heatherwhisker, the Dawnclan medicine cat, was already waiting inside. She sat near the river, staring down at her reflection in the slow moving current. When the three cats entered, she looked up and turned towards them. Usually, Heatherwhisker was very happy, but she looked troubled today, which unnerved Moonsoul a little bit. It was rare for Heatherwhisker to look so distressed. "Good evening, Heatherwhisker," Oakfur meowed as he approached Moonsoul.

"Hello Oakfur, Moonsoul." She then turned to Clovepaw, who sat near the edge of the clearing. "Who is that?"

"This is Clovepaw, an apprentice from my clan," Moonsoul replied. She glanced back at him and flicked her tail, signalling for him to join them. "He is considering becoming a medicine cat, and asked if he could join me." She hated lying, but it came so easily to her, a fact that she despised about herself. Many of the Duskclan cats clung to the rougeish ways of their ancestors. Their uncanny ability to lie was one of them, and she couldn't deny the fact that she shared in this dark ability, even though she didn't share in their heritage.

Heatherwhisker nodded. She then said, "We should start. How are things in your clans?"

Oakfur started. "Things are finally settling down, now that we have finally established ourselves. I think Fallstar has become a bit... paranoid of attack, but other than that, things seem to be going well. Whitebird just had kits too."

Moonsoul couldn't help but note that Fallstar was probably paranoid of an attack from Duskclan. She pushed this out of her mind and decided to focus on the kits."That's always nice, to have new cats in the clan. How many?" she meowed.

"Two, Lightningkit and Juniperkit. Both are she-cats, and are perfectly healthy," Oakfur replied with a purr.

Moonsoul smiled at the idea of kits. Her clan hadn't had any for a long while, and she missed them. Just then, Heatherwhisker turned to Moonsoul. "So, how is your clan?" she asked.

"Fine, mostly. We're having a little trouble with some unrest surrounding our former deputy's murder, but other than that, things seem okay," Moonsoul replied.

"Does Cinderstar still think Lightningpelt killed Wilowhisp?" Heatherwhisker asked.

Moonsoul shrugged. "He doesn't seem to care either way anymore but... some cats think Shadestorm did it."

"Really?" Heatherwhisker pondered, looking interested.

"Wasn't he kicked out of Dawnclan for murdering two cats?" Oakfur asked. Heatherwhisker nodded in affirmation. "Then I wouldn't put murdering Willowhisp beyond him."

"I wouldn't either," Heatherwhisker muttered in agreement. "How many cats think this?"

"Me, Thornmouth, and..." she paused, and glanced at Clovepaw, wondering if he was okay with her telling him. He glanced up, noticed her expression, and nodded almost imperceptibly. "Clovepaw may have witnessed the murder."

The other two cats gasped in unison. "Are you sure dear?" Heatherwhisker asked, looking at Clovepaw.

"I'm positive... I think Shadestorm knows, too," Clovepaw meowed.

"Then that could put him in grave danger, Moonsoul!" the copper tabby she-cat exclaimed.

"I know. We're going to talk to Cinderstar after this is over. I just hope we can make it back without any trouble." After a pause, she added, "Well, we've dwelled on my clan's troubles long enough. Heatherwhisker, do you have any news to report?"

Heatherwhisker already looked worried, but when Moonsoul asked this, her expression seemed to darken, making Moonsoul's skin crawl. Heatherwhisker's eyes became unfocused as she stared at a spot in the slow river next to her, and stayed silent for quite some time. "I received a prophecy. I'm sure it effects all of our clans, but I'm not sure who we should tell... for now, let's keep this between the four of us, alright?" Moonsoul, Oakfur, and Clovepaw all nodded. Heatherwhisker sighed, and then said, "This is what Starclan told me; Darkness approaches, that will engulf the forest. Dawn cannot break the darkness, and Dusk always gives away to midnight. There is a Chance to save the clans, but fear of something unknown may prevent this Chance. If left unchallenged, an eternal night will rule."

They stayed silent after she finished. Her words seemed to echo around the bank, and in Moonsoul's mind. They were immediately etched into her memory, bright and fresh and foreboding. "What could this mean?" she whispered softly when she couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"It clearly references your clans, but... is mine mentioned?" Oakfur asked.

"I think you are the 'chance to stop the darkness' that's mentioned..." Heatherwhisker whispered.

"It seems like whatever this is, the clans need to work together to prevent this 'eternal darkness' from taking over," Moonsoul meowed.

"Maybe... but we all know our clans can't seem to get along," Moonsoul meowed. Dawnclan and Duskclan were long time rivals, and Duskclan couldn't seem to accept Chanceclan. Moonsoul didn't mind them- she would admit, they had scared her at first- but she didn't hate them. To the rest of her clan, their opinions varied from just feeling uncomfortable around them to considering them abominations that should be destroyed. Some even felt it was Duskclan's duty to remove these abominations from the forest.

"For now... let's just see how things play out... hopefully by the next time we meet, we will have more answers. See if you two can get anymore from Starclan about this," Heatherwhisker meowed. The other two nodded.

"I should get back to my clan; having kits that young without a medicine cat around probably isn't the smartest idea," Oakfur meowed.

"Until next time, then," Moonsoul meowed, with a friendly nod.

"Goodby, Heatherwhisker, Moonsoul." He turned to Clovepaw and meowed, "Be careful, young one. If Shadestorm is the murderer we think he may be, you must be careful." Clovepaw nodded silently. Oakfur then turned and padded through the long stalks surrounding the clearing.

Moonsoul turned to Heatherwhisker. "We best be getting back to our clans too," she told her. Heatherwhisker nodded. "Come on, Clovepaw, let's go." She turned away from Heatherhwhisker, not liking the distressed look in the copper she-cat's eyes. She had never seen Heatherwhisker so distressed.

* * *

When Moonsoul walked into camp, she looked around, watching for a dark coated tom. When she was sure Shadestorm was nowhere in the clearing, she padded in, Clovepaw right next to her. The whole walk back, the two cats had been extra cautious, watching for Shadestorm. Gratefully, sense leaving the riverbank they hadn't seen a wink of Shadestorm, or any other cat, for that matter. "Alright Clovepaw, let's see if Cinderstar is in his den. Then we can talk to him, and hopefully fix all of this," she meowed softly as they moved across the camp towards the small crack in the cave's far wall. The small crack led to a much bigger alcove where Cinderstar slept. The crack was just big enough for one cat to slip through at a time, ensuring the Duskclan leader's privacy, and security if the camp was ever invaded. When she reached the crack, Cinderstar pressed her head into the gap and meowed, "Cinderstar, are you in?"

"Yes, Moonsoul. Come in," came his reply.

She slipped back out and turned to Clovepaw. "Wait here. Holler if anything happens, but I doubt he'll dare attack you out in the open in the middle of camp." The apprentice nodded. She could see the nervousness shining in his eyes, but he sat down calmly next to the entrance with his tail curled around his paws, looking every bit the young Duskclan warrior he was destined to become. She couldn't help but smile a bit, feeling pride towards the young cat. He was definitely a Duskclanner; nothing made him back down, and that made her appreciate him.

She pushed her way through the crack into her leader's den. "Cinderstar, I was hoping I could talk to you about a very important matter." Just then she paused. Cinderstar wasn't alone. Sitting next to the silver tom was a cat she recognized all too well. Shadestorm stared at her, a look of curiosity in his dark eyes.

"What is it, Moonsoul?" Cinderstar pressed, sounding a bit impatient, like he often did.

"Uh... I would rather talk to you alone," she meowed.

"Anything you can tell Cinderstar, you can tell me, Moonsoul. After all, I am deputy," Shadestorm meowed calmly, his tone surprisingly polite for what he was demanding. Cinderstar nodded in agreement.

"Actually Cinderstar... this is a matter for just you and me. Starclan's matters aren't for everyone," she meowed. She knew what she needed to talk to Cinderstar about had nothing to do with Starclan, but she told herself she wasn't stretching the truth too much, because she couldn't help but hope that revealing Shadestorm's possible corruption was Starclan's will.

Cinderstar nodded. "We can continue this conversation later, Shadestorm," he told his deputy.

"Of course, Cinderstar," Shadestorm meowed smoothly, bowing his head respectfully. When he looked up, he met Moonsoul's gaze, and she could see a hint of irritation in his eyes. Clearly, he didn't enjoy being dismissed like this. He stood and padded out, leaving Moonsoul and Cinderstar alone.

"Alright Moonsoul, what's the matter?" the leader asked.

"I'm sorry Cinderstar, this isn't a matter of Starclan, I just couldn't tell you in front of Shadestorm... seeing as it involves him." She searched the leader's gaze, looking for any hint of anger. When she didn't find anything other than mild curiosity, she continued. "I... I think Shadestorm murdered Willowhisp."

The leader looked annoyed, as if the very thought of her questioning his deputy frustrated him. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Clovepaw... said he saw it. He's outside, waiting to come in, so he could tell you what he told me," she explained.

"And you believe him?" he asked. He acted as if he was surprised she would question Shadestar, but something about his demeanor and tone of voice didn't quite fit. She just nodded, unable to speak. He sighed, and closed his eyes for a minute. "Alright, I'll hear him."

She turned and slipped out, to find Clovepaw still waiting. "Come on, Clovepaw, he said he'll talk to you now." He stood and followed in as Moonsoul backed up through the crack.

"Alright Clovepaw, tell me your side of the story," Cinderstar meowed quietly. He seemed tired, as if a lot was weighing him down right now. Moonsoul couldn't help but wonder what was bothering him.

Clovepaw slowly began to explain what had happened. When he finished, Cinderstar remained silent for quite some time. "Alright Clovepaw, you are free to go," Cinderstar meowed. "Go to your den, and don't leave, unless your mentor accompanies you, and avoid Shadestorm." There was concern in the leader's pale eyes, and emotion Moonsoul had never seen from Cinderstar before. Clovepaw nodded, turned away, and left. After Clovepaw was gone, Cinderstar turned to Moonsoul. After a pause, he glanced down towards his paws in front of him. "I already knew this..." he whispered.

Moonsoul's eyes widened in surprise. "What?!" Cinderstar nodded. "Then..." she started but her voice faltered, unable to come up with words to explain what she felt. Her mind swirled with unanswered questions, so many that she struggled to decide which one to ask first.

"How come I allowed him to become deputy? And if I knew he murdered the Dawnclan cats, why did I allow him to join at all?" Cinderstar asked, voicing some of her unanswered questions. She nodded slightly. "It's because... I had no choice."

Moonsoul found her voice again. "What power does one cat have over you? Cinderstar, you are the _leader _of Duskclan!"

"He... It's because of... Clovepaw," Cinderstar meowed quietly.

This only left Moonsoul more bewildered. "What? What does he have anything to do with this?" she asked.

"He's my son..." Cinderstar meowed. Moonsoul let this sink in, considering its validity. She had to admit, they were very similar, now that she thought about it. In fact, Clovepaw almost looked exactly like a slightly younger Cinderstar in build and height, and his coat was very similar to Cinderstar's, except for it had more of a brown tint instead of gray. Then Moonsoul remembered how Clovepaw had came to be in the clan; Cinderstar had appeared with him one day, saying his had found him curled up next to the body of a dead rouge queen who had apparently starved to death near there boarders. Clovepaw's appearance hadn't quite fit the story, but she had dismissed it. Gentlefoot had had kits at the time, and she had raised Clovepaw as his adopted mother.

"Okay, so Clovepaw's your son... what does this have anything to do with Shadestorm?" Moonsoul meowed.

"Clovepaw and Shadestorm are brothers. Silverwing, a Dawnclan cat, is their mother. Shadestorm is about 3 moons older than Clovepaw," Cinderstar stated. He seemed unwilling to hide this anymore.

Moonsoul thought about this a moment. "So... is Shadestorm your son too?"

Cinderstar shook his head. "Shadestorm's father died soon after I met Silverwing."

Moonsoul nodded. She felt surprisingly relieved, and realized when she learned that Clovepaw and Shadestorm were brothers, she had dreaded the dark warrior was Cinderstar's son. _But then... if he isn't, what does Clovepaw's parentage have anything to do with Shadestorm?_ "I still don't get how this connects back to Shadestorm," she told him, voicing her thoughts.

"This is where it gets complicated... Shadestorm always knew about Silverwing's relationship with me, but didn't tell anyone, because he didn't want to rat out on his own mother. He soon found out about Clovepaw when he was asked to sneak the kit across the boarder to me soon after he was born. He was always good to keep Silverwing's secrets, and seemed like a good cat, despite his burdens at such a young age... that's probably why his deception surprised me so much now... I actually considered him my son for a while... until he was kicked out of Dawnclan. He came to me soon afterwards. I completely believed the tales I had heard about the Dawnclan murders, because I had confirmed them with Rowanstar, and so I was fully ready to deny a murderous cat refuge here, but he... threatened to tell the clan about Clovepaw. I was forced to let him in. Right before he announced the death of Willowhisp to the clan, he came and openly told me that he had killed Whillowhisp, and told me to make him deputy, or he would tell. I allowed him to lie to the clan, to become deputy, and to endanger everything I had worked for here, to protect my position. At first, that's all I could think of, but when he ordered me to attack Dawnclan and blame Willowhisp's death on Lightningpelt, I knew I couldn't risk the whole clan in all out war with Dawnclan just to save my reputation, so I turned away from that battle when Rowanstar refused to hand Lightningpelt over. That's what we were discussing when you walked in. I was actually grateful for your interruption." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I know I need to do something about Shadestorm, but I must admit, part of me doesn't want to. I don't want to risk my place as leader..." he sighed, shaking his head in frustration. "I can't let him harm Clovepaw though..."

Moonsoul could tell he seriously cared for his son and wanted to protect him. She thought for a minute, wondering if she could come up with a solution to allow Cinderstar to keep his position while removing Shadestorm from the clan. After a minute, a cat came to mind, and an idea. "Cinderstar... as you well know, me and my sister were born as loners in Duskclan's territory. While I joined soon after you found me as an apprentice, my sister remained a friendly loner for quite some time, long enough that by the time she joined, she was a full-grown cat. She's always been one for adventure... and with some work, I think I could convince her to claim Clovepaw as her kit. That way, we can confront Shadestorm, and remove the danger of him revealing Clovepaw as being your son."

"But that wouldn't explain why I never bothered to claim Clovepaw. Why wouldn't I? For that matter, why wouldn't she?" Cinderstar asked.

"Maybe..." she paused, thinking. "Maybe you thought it improper for a leader to have a kit with a loner, and so you were unwilling to claim him as your own, that's why you lied about his origins and brought him into the clan."

"That explains why I didn't... but what about Silvereyes? Why wouldn't she just raise him and not tell the clan at all?" he asked.

"Maybe... something went wrong when the kit was born, and she disowned him, and refused to call him her son, but she's willing to do now, to save you. Despite growing separate sense she joined the clan, maybe she still cares enough about you to protect your position." As she finished, she smiled slightly at her own ingenuity. _This might actually work,_ she thought.

"This just might work..." he muttered, echoing her thoughts. "could your sister pull it off?"

"Trust me, sir, you haven't seen a more creative lair than my sister," Moonsoul assured with a playfully wicked smile. She couldn't count how many times her sister had come up with elaborate tales about one thing or another, just for attention. Almost always, she got away with them, except for with Moonsoul; she knew her sister too well to be fooled.

"Alright. You talk to your sister, and then we'll inform Clovepaw," Cinderstar agreed.

"Does... Clovepaw know that your his father?" Moonsoul asked carefully. She didn't want to tell the apprentice something that she had no business revealing. If Cinderstar wanted him to know, he should tell, not her.

"That's one cat I haven't denied the truth from. He's always known who I am... and how much he means to me. That's why I feel he should know what we are planning," Cinderstar explained.

Moonsoul nodded. "Just in case though, make sure he stays in his den when we confront Shadestorm. I don't want him accidentally giving away anything," she suggested. Cinderstar nodded in agreement. She bowed her head and meowed, "Thank you, Cinderstar, for hearing me out. I shall discuss this with my sister." She turned to leave.

"No, Moonsoul, thank you. I had no idea what to do until today. Starclan must have guided you today," Cinderstar meowed, dipping his head in gratitude. She smiled over her shoulder, and then headed out, in search of her sister.

* * *

ALLIANCES

**Dawnclan**

Leader

**Rowanstar**- Brown tabby she-cat with white markings and golden eyes.

Deputy

**Sablestorm** - Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes. **Apprentice, Owlpaw**

Medicine Cat

**Heatherwhisker** - Dark copper tabby she-cat with white markings.

Warriors

**Sandstone** - Sand colored tom.

**Wolfheart - **Dark gray and black tortoiseshell tom with blue-gray eyes.

**Gingerclaw** - Ginger colored tom.

**Braveheart** - Once timid black she-cat.

**Lightningpelt - **golden tabby tom.

**Silverwing** - Pretty silver she-cat with a small scar above her eye.

**Squirreltail - **squirrel colored she-cat.

Apprentices

**Owlpaw - **Tan tom with a white belly, chest, and chin. He has pale blue eyes.

Queens

**Rippleshine** - Siamese she-cat.(mate- Sablestorm Kits- Gingerkit, Silverkit, Gentlekit, Sandkit)

Elders

**Cloudedeyes** - old gray she-cat. Blind.

**Duskclan**

Leader

**Cinderstar** - Broad shouldered dark gray tabby tom.

Deputy

**Shadestorm** - Black tom with dark eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Moonsoul** - Dark blue point she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Warriors

**Whispspirit** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes.

**Thornmouth** - Older, battle scarred brown tom with a very short temper. **Apprentice, Clovepaw**

**Adderstripe - **Brown tom with markings that resemble a snake, and a sandy belly and paws.

**Silvereyes - **blue point she-cat with silver eyes. Moonsoul's only litter mate.

Apprentices

**Clovepaw**- Dark brown tabby tom with green eyes.

Elders

**Gentlefoot -** Pale tabby she-cat. she retired young after loosing her last batch of kits to a horrible miscarriage that left her body permanently damaged.

**Chanceclan**

Leader

**Fallstar**- Completely black she-cat with golden eyes and a long, jagged scar along her left side.

Deputy

**Oakfur**- Dark brown tabby tom with yellow-green eyes and a scar across his chest.

Medicine Cat

**Aquasky** - Long haired blue she-cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors

**Mystictail** - dark blue, almost black she-cat. She looks black with a blue sheen. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Poppypaw**

**Wolfclaw** - Brown and gray tom with long, abnormal sized claws. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Quickpaw**

**Brakenclaw** - Bracken colored tortoiseshell tom. Senior warrior.

**Darksong - **Black she-cat and sister of Fallstar. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Reefpaw**

**Maplefur** -Red tabby she-cat with aqua eyes. She's blind in one eye, and a scar crosses that side of her face.

**Shadowleap - **Black and gray tom. Fallstar's brother.

**Singinglark - **beautiful golden tabby she-cat with a white chest, belly and paws, and piercing, icy blue eyes.

**Firestripe** - brown tom with white and orange calico-like markings and green eyes.

**Echocliff - **gray tom with dark blue eyes.

**Shadedmoon - **Shadedmoon is a long-haired light silver she-cat with darker patches. Her voice was damaged in the fire that killed her in her previous life, and so it's very raspy, and sometimes when her throat is dry, she can't talk at all.

Apprentices

**Poppypaw - **Dark orange she-cat with black patches and yellow eyes.

**Quickpaw - **black and white tom.

**Reefpaw - **pale cream colored she-cat.

Queens

**Whitebird - **white she-cat with pale brown speckles. (mate- Echocliff. Kits- Lightningkit and Juniperkit)


	7. Chapter 6: Shadestorm's trial

Chapter 6

Shadestorm's trial

Silvereyes sighed heavily, knowing the next few moments of her life could decide the fate of Duskclan. Two nights ago, her sister, Moonsoul had approached her and told her all about Shadestorm's murders, and how he was controlling Cinderstar. When Moonsoul had explained her plan to help Cinderstar, Silvereyes quickly agreed. She loved manipulating cats, as dark as it sounded, and she had jumped at the opportunity to be part of such a large scheme.

Now that the time had come for her to deliver, she couldn't help but be a little nervous. If she couldn't pull this off, Shadestorm may be able to call her on her bluff, and that would ruin Cinderstar. "Alright, here goes," she meowed softly, and stepped out of the warrior's den. Cinderstar had just called for a gathering, and all the other cats in the clan had already moved to the surround the shaft of light that came through the roof of the camp. Cinderstar stood in the center of the shaft of light, his silver fur shining with the light of the sun. Silvereyes sat near the edge of the crowd, not wanting to be close the front of the group.

"Cats of Duskclan, we have been caught in a time of unrest. I feel we need to settle this. Some of you believe that the Dawnclan cat Lightningpelt isn't responsible for the death of our previous deputy. I have come to put those rumors to rest." He paused, glancing through the crowd. His eyes met hers, and she noticed the relief in his eyes. She nodded slightly, letting him know she was ready to back up his story about Clovepaw. "They are true. Lightningpelt had nothing to do with Willowhisp's death." Murmurs spread through the crowd. Silvereyes glanced at Shadestorm sitting near Cinderstar. Surprisingly, he seemed pretty calm, even though she figured he knew where this was going. Cinderstar motioned for silence with a flick of his tail, and the crowd obeyed. "You probably want to know who the true murderer is. I regret to inform you, that I was wrong about Shadestorm. I have had several cats come to me with evidence that Shadestorm actually killed him, and he has admitted to the murder himself." This time, the crowd broke into angry yowls. Shadestorm, at the front of the group, remained unusually calm. _He's going to bring up Clovepaw, _she thought. Cinderstar called for silence again, and then turned to Shadestorm. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" he asked, his words cold.

"I do, actually," Shadestorm meowed in response. He stood, and moved so he was standing on the edge of the light. "My clanmates, hear me out before you convict me as a murderer and send me away. I hate to inform you that Cinderstar is lying to you. I have found out some terrible news about him, and he wants me to keep silent." Shadestorm actually looked regretful. _He's a good actor, _she thought. "Cinderstar has a son, born of a Dawnclan cat. He feared I would share this secret, and he would lose his position, so he threatened to blame Willowhisp's death on me, but my fear for your wellbeing was stronger than my fear for myself. Please, you must believe me. I had nothing to do with Willowhisp's death. To prove I am not lying, Cinderstar's son is Clovepaw." The crowd was thrown into unrest again, and Cinderstar's cries for quiet went unheard. Then, Moonsoul stepped forward.

"I have lived with Cinderstar all my life, and I've never known him to be a liar," She yowled over the noise of the crowd. They quieted down, so they could hear her words. "I'm sure we can prove who is telling the truth here. Shadestorm, what evidence do you have to prove that Clovepaw is actually Cinderstar's son?"

"Well, for one, look at him. He's a spit image of Cinderstar!" Shadestorm meowed.

"There is such a thing as look-alikes, Shadestorm. I see the similarities, but not enough to prove that they are related at all. You will have to do better than that," Moonsoul meowed in response.

Shadestorm nodded. "I can understand that. Alright then, don't you think it's a bit suspicious that Cinderstar was the one to bring the kit here, and that it smelt of Dawnclan, not a rouge? Plus, he said that his mother starved to death, in the middle of Greenleaf. What, was she unable to hunt? Prey has never been scarce in the forest during Greenleaf. We both know that. Plus, if the mother had died of hunger, and Clovepaw was as young as he was, wouldn't he have shown signs of hunger too? Yet he was small and plump. He wasn't unhealthy at all. To top it all off, right around that, a queen in Dawnclan lost one of her newborn kits at the same time Clovepaw was brought to Duskclan. No cat in Dawnclan knows what happened to him. He was too young to have wandered off, and there were no signs of a break-in. The kit couldn't have just disappeared."

Silvereyes sighed. She could see Cinderstar growing nervous, despite his attempts to act disgusted at Shadestorm's story. _Alright, my turn. _"I cannot disprove the part about the missing Dawnclan cat, but I know Clovepaw is not that kit," she meowed. All eyes turned to her. She squirmed, acting nervous. Luckily, it wasn't too hard.

"Are you sure? How would you know, sister?" Moonsoul asked.

"Because…" she paused for effect, and bowed her head, as if ashamed. "Because the kit is mine." Shocked gasps echoed through the crowd.

"It… it is?" Moonsoul stammered. Silvereyes simply nodded. "Then… why wasn't he born in the clan?" Moonsoul asked.

"Because I had him before I joined the clan," Silvereyes replied. She glanced up, meeting her sister's eyes.

"Then… is Cinderstar the father?" Moonsoul asked.

Silvereyes was about to say yes, but then she stopped for a moment. Was it really all that important for the clan to know that Clovepaw was his son? What if she claimed that the father was actually a rouge? She shook her head no, and then meowed, "His father is dead. He died right before I had the kit… I couldn't raise him. My grief was too much. Cinderstar stumbled across me soon after that, and I asked him to take the kit, so he could have a better life. By this point, Moonsoul, you had already joined. I knew about Duskclan, because of you, and I knew that if you were happy there, my son could be too. Cinderstar was kind enough to bring the kit to camp. I had no idea he didn't tell anyone who the kit's mother was, until he approached me a couple of days ago and told me he had lied. I don't understand why he did, but it doesn't matter now; Shadestorm's story isn't true." She put some conviction to her last words, hoping to convince the clan.

"What about how the kit smelled of Dawnclan?" Shadestorm asked. He sounded calm, but there was anger in his eyes, anger that most cats wouldn't notice.

"She gave birth to him on the boarder of Dawnclan and Duskclan. The kit must have picked up the scent," Cinderstar meowed. He shrugged. Silvereyes noticed that he seemed more confident now. Then his eyes grew cold. "You have no way to disprove that you murdered Willowhisp's, Shadestorm. You cannot mark me a liar, and we have proven you to be one. It's my word against yours. Duskclan, do you believe my story or his?"

Silence rained for a few moments, and then Thornmouth meowed, "Shadestorm's a murderer. He does not deserve to live amongst us." Yowls of agreement echoed through the camp. Shadestorm bowed his head in defeat.

"Send him away, Cindestar!" A cat called, and more meows of agreement echoed through the clearing.

"I agree. A murderer does not deserve a place in Duskclan, especially not the place of deputy. Shadestorm, from this moment on, you are banned from Duskclan. Leave now, before my anger becomes too great and I decide to withdraw my mercy and just kill you now," Cinderstar meowed, his voice eerily calm. His words sent shivers down Silvereyes' spine, and she tried to hold in a shudder.

Shadestorm stood, and walked towards the entrance, his tail and head held high. He didn't say another word as he strolled through the camp, and out the cave entrance. "Silvereyes, Thornmouth, Adderstripe, follow him. Make sure he makes it out of our territory," Cinderstar meowed once he was out of sight. Silvereyes stood and hurried after Thornmouth and Adderstripe, who were already moving towards the camp entrance.

The three tracked Shadestorm to the edge of their territory. He slipped over the border, and disappeared into the trees on the other side. They waited a few minutes at the border to see if he tried to cross back over, but they didn't see him. They then headed back to camp. Silvereyes found Cinderstar waiting in the same spot. Thornmouth approached Cinderstar and meowed, "He's gone across the border."

"Good. Hopefully we never see him again." He then sighed, and muttered. "I must consult with Moonsoul. I need a new deputy, again." He then stood and padded towards the medicine cat's den, in search of Moonsoul. Silvereyes headed towards the warriors den, and sat outside, mulling over the gathering in her mind, hoping that she had managed to convince everyone.

Just then, Clovepaw approached her. The apprentice had stayed in the apprentice den during the gathering, but she knew he knew the truth. "Can we talk, somewhere private?" he meowed. She nodded, and he said, "Follow me." He led her to the apprentice's den. He sat across from her, and then said after a few moments, "Thank you, for helping my father."

"I was glad to help. I couldn't resist being part of such a story," she meowed with a grin. After a few more minutes, she stood and left, claiming she was hungry. She grabbed a piece of prey and nibbled on it.

* * *

Near sunset, Cinderstar called another meeting. Silvereyes moved to the center of the camp again. This time, hardly no light shone through the crack in the cave roof, leaving Cinderstar in shadows. "I have decided who is to be the next deputy," he meowed. He paused, and then began the ceremony. "I say these words before Starclan, so Duskclan's ancestors and Willowhisp may hear and approve my choice. The new deputy of Duskclan shall be Thornmouth."

All eyes turned to the senior warrior, muttered an annoyed "about time I'm recognized for my tribute to the clan." At first, Silvereyes was surprised by his reaction, but then she noticed how he smiled, and as he walked forward to join Cinderstar, he held his tail and head high. Clearly, he was happy, he just had a strange way of showing it.

"Thornmouth, I hope and pray to Starclan that you will be a better deputy than the previous one. You have already proven your loyalty to this clan time and time again, and I hope you remain loyal as you serve as deputy," Cinderstar added. Silvereyes couldn't help but notice hint of bitterness to his words when he mentioned the previous deputy.

"Of course, Cinderstar," Thornmouth meowed softly, his usual sharp tone replace by one of respect. He bowed his head to the leader, than sat in the vacant spot Shadestorm had occupied earlier that day, and the first meeting.

Cinderstar scanned the crowd, looking for someone. After a few moments, he began to speak again. "Now, I have one more thing to do. I think it's time our clan's only apprentice became a warrior. Clovepaw, please step forward." Clovepaw did so. Cinderstar began the ceremony."I, Cinderstar, leader of Duskclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your code and I commend him to you as a warrior. Clovepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Clovepaw seemed prepared for this. _Maybe Cinderstar had mentioned something to him before_, Silvereyes thought, _He is his father, after all. _"I do," Clovepaw meowed, his words strong but calm.

"Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warriors names: Clovepaw, from this moment on you shall be none as Clovefur. Starclan honors your bravery and honesty, and commends you for your help in discovering Shadestorm's treachery. We welcome you as a full warrior of Starclan." As tradition in Duskclan, Cinderstar bowed his head in respect to the young warrior, the only time the leader bowed to anyone. Then, he stepped closer, and whispered something to Clovefur. No cat was close enough to hear, but Silvereyes guessed that the leader was probably congratulating his son. "Alright, meeting dismissed," he meowed, and the crowd dispersed.

Silvereyes approached Clovefur and meowed, "Congratulations, Clovefur. You will have become a fine warrior," she meowed as she nudged the young cat's shoulder with her nose.

"Thank you, mother," Clovefur meowed evenly. Only his eyes betrayed that he was lying, and Silvereyes was the only cat nearby. She knew the clan around her thought she was Clovefur's mother, so she knew they would have to act the part. She smiled, and then padded away, wondering just how big of a conspiracy she had entangled herself in.

* * *

ALLIANCES

** Dawnclan **

Leader

**Rowanstar**- Brown tabby she-cat with white markings and golden eyes.

Deputy

**Sablestorm** - Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes. **Apprentice, Owlpaw**

Medicine Cat

**Heatherwhisker** - Dark copper tabby she-cat with white markings.

Warriors

**Sandstone** - Sand colored tom.

**Wolfheart** - Dark gray and black tortoiseshell tom with blue-gray eyes.

**Gingerclaw** - Ginger colored tom.

**Braveheart** - Once timid black she-cat.

**Lightningpelt** - golden tabby tom.

**Silverwing** - Pretty silver she-cat with a small scar above her eye.

**Squirreltail** - squirrel colored she-cat.

Apprentices

**Owlpaw** - Tan tom with a white belly, chest, and chin. He has pale blue eyes.

Queens

**Rippleshine** - Siamese she-cat.(mate- Sablestorm Kits- Gingerkit, Silverkit, Gentlekit, Sandkit)

Elders

**Cloudedeyes** - old gray she-cat. Blind.

**Duskclan**

Leader

**Cinderstar** - Broad shouldered dark gray tabby tom.

Deputy

**Shadestorm** - Black tom with dark eyes.

Medicine Cat

**Moonsoul** - Dark blue point she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Warriors

**Whispspirit** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes.

**Thornmouth** - Older, battle scarred brown tom with a very short temper. **Apprentice, Clovepaw**

**Adderstripe** - Brown tom with markings that resemble a snake, and a sandy belly and paws.

**Silvereyes** - blue point she-cat with silver eyes. Moonsoul's only litter mate.

Apprentices

**Clovepaw**- Dark brown tabby tom with green eyes.

Elders

**Gentlefoot** - Pale tabby she-cat. she retired young after loosing her last batch of kits to a horrible miscarriage that left her body permanently damaged.

**Chanceclan**

Leader

**Fallstar**- Completely black she-cat with golden eyes and a long, jagged scar along her left side.

Deputy 

**Oakfur**- Dark brown tabby tom with yellow-green eyes and a scar across his chest.

Medicine Cat

**Aquasky** - Long haired blue she-cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors

**Mystictail** - dark blue, almost black she-cat. She looks black with a blue sheen. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Poppypaw**

**Wolfclaw** - Brown and gray tom with long, abnormal sized claws. Senior warrior.** Apprentice, Quickpaw**

**Brakenclaw** - Bracken colored tortoiseshell tom. Senior warrior.

**Darksong** - Black she-cat and sister of Fallstar. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Reefpaw **

**Maplefur** -Red tabby she-cat with aqua eyes. She's blind in one eye, and a scar crosses that side of her face.

**Shadowleap** - Black and gray tom. Fallstar's brother.

**Singinglark** - beautiful golden tabby she-cat with a white chest, belly and paws, and piercing, icy blue eyes.

**Firestripe** - brown tom with white and orange calico-like markings and green eyes.

**Echocliff** - gray tom with dark blue eyes.

**Shadedmoon** - long-haired light silver she-cat with darker patches. Her voice was damaged in the fire that killed her in her previous life, and so it's very raspy, and sometimes when her throat is dry, she can't talk at all.

Apprentices

**Poppypaw** - Dark orange she-cat with black patches and yellow eyes.

**Quickpaw** - black and white tom.

**Reefpaw** - pale cream colored she-cat.

Queens

**Whitebird** - white she-cat with pale brown speckles. (mate- Echocliff. Kits- Lightningkit and Juniperkit)


	8. Chapter 7: Shadestorm's Plan

Chapter 7  
Shadestorm's Plan

Shadestorm stood at the edge of a cliff, his breath showing in white clouds in front of him, indicating how cold the morning was. The first frost of the year had settled in early, and the frigid air made his fur fluff out to keep him warm. He didn't feel the cold though. His anger kept him warm. He knew somewhere below him the clans were just beginning to wake up as the sun rose higher. He growled in disgust, and then turned and padded away, heading down the mountainside, towards unoccupied territory. when he had left the clan boarder behind him, he came across a burned out grove of tightly growing trees. Their trunks bore wholes in places, and the bark was dark and hardened, scarred by the fire from many years ago. The forest had long since been to recover; thick grass was now intertwined with the tree trunks, leaving few gaps. The trees surrounding the grove were much younger, and had clearly grown in after the fire, as the forest had regrown. The grove had obviously been there for some time, and these trees were the only ones remaining standing from the forest before. The new tree's branches tangled with the remaining ones on the darkened trees, creating a thick canopy around the edges, with a gap in the center to allow light in. All together, the scene made an ideal place for a camp. Shadestorm especially liked it because it reflected his own self; his past had left him scarred like the fire had the forest, but the scars had left him stronger, even if it had twisted his appearance a bit.

He stepped into the grove, and sat in the center, listening to the silence. It seemed the animals of the forest stayed away from the scarred grove, unwilling to approach the possibly dangerous dead trees. Shadestorm on the other hand saw that they were still sturdy, despite their hollowed out and broken appearance. _This will do perfectly, _he thought. "You wanted to see me?" A voice said from behind.

"Yes," Shadestorm meowed, turning to look at Shadowleap, a Chanceclan warrior. The black and gray warrior had spoken to Shadestorm once at a gathering, and had voiced his distaste for his clan. Shadestorm had decided to capitalize on this. "You told me once you despised Chanceclan. What would you do if I offered you a chance to leave that clan?"

Shadowleap seemed slightly surprised. "I would probably take it, but I'm not joining Duskclan," he replied after a pause. "I hate Duskclan just as much as Chanceclan."

"No need to worry about that. I'm no longer deputy of Duskclan," Shadestorm meowed in response.

Shadowleap snorted. "That didn't last too long. What, did you get blamed for a crime you didn't commit there too?" His tone was borderline mocking, which irritated Shadestorm, but he remained completely calm.

"To be perfectly honest with you, I am actually guilty of both," Shadestorm meowed evenly, meeting Shadowleap's eyes.

"Why are you telling me this?" Shadowleap asked.

"Because I would like you to trust me," Shadestorm meowed. "If my idea is to be successful, I am going to need that of those I ask to follow me." He waited a moment to see Shadowleap's reaction. The black and gray warrior seemed only curious. "There is a war going on in Starclan. They are conflicted. Turns out, not all agreed on the idea of Chanceclan, and it has created conflict in the clan above us, to the point that they have separated into two groups. My father came to me in a dream and said that the group that had broke away from Starclan was called the Empire in the Stars, and they had selected me to create a clan, called Empireclan, for them to guide. I would like to extend an offer of invitation to you, and any other warrior who is tired of the clans."

Shadowleap remained silent for a moment. "You know, if I didn't know you were completely serious, I'd be laughing." He shook his head, then added, "You're either genius, crazy, or both, but I like the idea. But it we do this, the clans will see us as a threat."

Shadestorm smiled cruelly. "Of course they will. They should. I don't plan on keeping the peace. You see, the Empire in the Stars feels the clans that follow Starclan are wrong, and need to be destroyed... especially Chanceclan." He knew he was treading on weak ice by mentioning the black and gray warrior's clan as his target for destruction, and he hoped he would react how he wanted him too. If he showed he could put his clan behind him, then Shadestorm was sure that Shadowleap would be loyal to him and him alone.

"Sounds fun. Alright, I'm in, but on one occasion; I want to be deputy," Shadowleap meowed.

Shadestorm nodded, hiding his excitement. Clearly, Shadowleap didn't care about Chanceclan. "I was planning on it, though you shall not be called 'deputy'. The Empire in the Stars feels we should separate ourselves from the other clans in every way, including in the way our ranks are formed. Instead of a deputy as second in command, we will have _two_ admirals. The First Admiral will have more authority than the Second, but only slightly, and the Emperor will outrank them both."

Shadowleap nodded. "Who will become the next emperor when the current one dies or steps down?" he asked.

"The leader will choose which one will be Emperor next before he dies. The healer is in charge of guarding that decision, and making sure it is reinforced after the leader dies. If he fails to do so, the two admirals must battle to decide who will be the next emperor. The looser, if not dead, will be exiled," Shadestorm replied.

Shadowleap seemed a bit surprised. "Exiled? Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" he asked carefully.

Shadestorm's ear flicked in irritation, but he didn't let it show. "That's how things will be in Empireclan," Shadestorm meowed. "The Empire in the Stars feels that the clans have become lax, and that Empireclan must perfect themselves. A lot of things will be different in Empireclan."

"Tell me about it, so I know what I'm committing to," Shadowleap requested.

"I will, all in good time. First, I must tell the Empire in the Stars know that you have accepted their offer. They told me if I could recruit a cat, they would give me my nine lives and my name as an emperor," Shadestorm informed him. "I would like you to come."

"Sure. Why not?" Shadowleap replied.

"Good. I will explain the changes as we walk," He then turned and headed deeper out of the grove. He then skirted the edge of the grove, Shadowleap close behind him. Once he was behind the grove, he started out deeper into the forest.

As they walked, Shadestorm began to explain his plans for the clan. "The biggest difference in Empireclan will be she-cat's rolls. I've noticed throughout my life that she-cats that hold high positions, or worse, are trusted to lead a clan, only lead to more trouble than it's worth. For example, Rowanstar treated me rudely, favoring other kits and apprentices when I was young, because I was too opinionated. A tom would have never done that; he would have taken my point of view and understood it. In Chanceclan, Starclan placed a she-cat to lead a group of abominations. In Duskclan, I had to leave because a she-cat, Moonsoul, influenced the leader to change his mind about trusting me. The only reason why she held any sway was because she was medicine cat to Duskclan. Are you seeing the pattern here?" Shadowleap nodded. "On top of this, she-cats are known to be weaker than toms, unable to handle battle. They should not be allowed to become warriors if they cannot handle their duties."

"I agree," Shadowleap meowed. "So how will you prevent those who can't from becoming warriors?"

"Well, training will start earlier in our clan. At five moons, the current Emperor will assess the kits and consult the Empire in the Stars to see who is worthy of becoming warriors, both tom and she-cat. Almost all toms will be allowed to become warriors. Those who are unfit will become slaves. She-kits will only be allowed to train as warriors if they seem fit enough, both mentally and physically. If they aren't they will either become unselected she-cats - a rank I will explain later - or slaves. At the end of an apprentice's training, the leader will assess them in a final battle. Toms who can't pass this before they become nine moons will become slaves, and will lose their apprentice name. Slaves will have rouge names, to distinguish them from other members of the clan. She-cats that fail their assessment can become unselected she-cats, but most will become slaves," Shadestorm explained.

"I like it. It's different. It will guarantee that our clan will always be strong," Shadowleap meowed in agreement. "So what is this unselected she-cat thing?" he asked.

"How does a clan prosper?" Shadestorm replied, answering his question with another question.

Shadestorm could tell he was wondering how this connected to the new rank, but he just went with Shadestorm's strange way of answering Shadowleap's question and meowed, "It prospers if it has warriors to support it."

Shadestorm nodded, and then asked, "And how does a clan get warriors?"

"By training apprentices," Shadowleap replied.

"And how does a clan get apprentices?" Shadestorm asked again, hoping Shadowleap would get where he was going.

"With kits. And she-cats give kits," Shadowleap meowed, seeming a bit less confused.

"Correct. In Empireclan, we must guarantee that our kits are born strong and healthy, to become future warriors. Our strongest she-cats are to become warriors, and the weakest ones slaves. Neither one of these ranks are allowed to have mates; warriors must focus on their warrior duties, and slaves are not worthy of bearing Empireclan kits. Where then, are we to get our kits?" Shadestorm asked.

"From the unselected she-cats," Shadowleap meowed, realization dawning.

"Correct once again. The unselected she-cat rank will work like this; a she-kit who isn't strong enough to become a warrior, but is better than the life of a slave will join the ranks of the unselected she-cats. She will train to become a mother, and, when she's old enough, will be eligible to be selected as a mate. If a she-cat becomes too old to bear kits and is never selected to be an unselected she-cat, she will become a slave," Shadestorm meowed.

"Interesting... I like it," Shadowleap meowed. "Everyone will know where they belong."

"Yes. Now, I was looking at the grove, and it's not set up for a handful of large dens. Instead, it's fit for many small dens, and only a couple of large dens, so I was thinking the clan will be set up like this; there will be a nursery, for she-cats and their kits. There will be one den for all the unselected she-cats, and another den for apprentices. The warriors will get their own den. When a she-cat is selected to be a cat's mate, she will live in the same den as her mate before and after she has kits. The slaves will sleep in the center of the camp, unless there is available dens. The retired warriors will get to stay in their dens until they die. The emperor and healer will have their own dens."

"Healer?" Shadowleap asked.

"Our equivalent of a medicine cat," Shadestorm clarified.

"Oh. Of course. Any other rules I should know about?" Shadowleap meowed.

"Well, other than the typical rules of the clans, she-cats won't be allowed to hold high positions, except for healer. I think I will allow them to hold that rank. Also, when a she-cat has kits, her mate is responsible for her care. If the kits die because the mate doesn't take care of her, he will be punished. If they die because the she-cat fails to take care of them, she will be punished, and most likely will no longer be allowed to have kits. She may even become a slave. Healers will be allowed to have mates, but she-cat healers cannot have kits unless they have an apprentice with enough skill to take over while she is raising her kits..." he paused, thinking. "For now, I think that's all."

"So how do you plan to recruit cats?" Shadowleap asked.

"I already have a handful that I found living as rouges. I will introduce them to you after we finish here," Shadestorm meowed as he stopped walking.

Shadowleap glanced around. "This is where you plan to talk to the Empire in the Stars? What's so special about this place?" he scoffed.

"Not here, no," Shadestorm meowed in response. Inwardly he grumbled at the stupidity of other cats, but he remained calm on the outside. "I go to the lake beyond these trees, but I cannot take you beyond this point unless I'm sure you are completely loyal to Empireclan and myself, and you will leave Chanceclan behind you for forever."

"I will. I swear it. I had no loyalty to that clan to begin with. I've always hated Fallstar's ways, and how she preaches that we must live a perfect life, to atone for our past life. It goes on and on and on. She acts like her warriors are disgraces, and she can't stand to be in their presence. I want to destroy that clan of abominations just as much as you," Shadowleap meowed.

"Good, good. Come then, our clan awaits," Shadestorm meowed. He started walking again. Soon they came to the bank of a large lake. It was so large, the trees on the other side looked like a blue-green haze. "You don't mind swimming?" he asked Shadowleap.

"No," Shadowleap replied quickly. Shadestorm could tell he was lying. In fact, the fear in his eyes told Shadestorm that he actually was terrified of water. _Good, this will test his loyalty. If he's willing to face his fears and swim through this lake for me, he'll do just about anything. I am going to need that type of loyalty in the future. He must be desperate to leave Chanceclan if he's willing to completely swear himself to me automatically._

Shadestorm stepped forward, into the shallow water at the edge of the lake. He kept walking out farther, feeling the water raising at his sides at soaking his fur. He ignored the cold that came with the water and pushed on, until he could no longer touch the bottom without going under. He began swimming, heading farther out into the lake. He could hear Shadowleap splashing along behind him.

Just when Shadestorm was beginning to feel he couldn't swim much farther, he reached his destination; a small island. Only a little grass grew on the rocks. The island was too small for anything else. If the lake rose just a little, the island would be covered. Shadestorm pulled himself up onto the rocks, and then laid on its warm surface, feeling the sun dry his fur. He turned to watch Shadowleap drag his sopping self onto the rock next to him. He was panting heavily, like Shadestorm himself. "Why... is it... so far out?" he panted.

"Getting here is supposed... to be challenging... to prove to the... Empire in the... Stars that we are willing to... risk everything to show them our loyalty," Shadestorm replied.

"Took you long enough to get here, Shade," a new voice meowed. Shadestorm turned to look at a brown tom with a black streak down his back and a white chin.

"Shade_storm_," he meowed as he stood. "And sorry for the wait, Shadowleap took a moment to get here."

"Right, Shadestorm. I forget, we aren't rouges anymore. By the way, I've decided I'm just going to be called Razorstreak. It fits, doesn't it?" the brown tom meowed. A dark she-cat padded up next to him, followed by several other cats.

"Yes, it does," Shadestorm meowed, his tone polite, despite his irritation at the cat's timing. He turned to Shadowleap. "Shadowleap, this is Razorstreak, my second admiral." He flicked his tail towards Razorstreak as he said so. Then, gesturing to the dark she-cat next to Razorstreak, he meowed, "This is Eclipsenight, our first she-cat."

"Hello," Razostreak meowed to Shadowleap. Eclipsenight nodded in greeting, remaining silent. Shadowleap returned her nod.

A long haired she-cat with brown and white fur stood next to Eclipsenight. "That," Shadestorm meowed with a nod towards the she-cat, "Is Icedawn, our healer." The she-cat smiled warmly at Shadowleap.

"Is he here yet?" Another cat meowed as he joined them. "Oh, hello Shadestorm," the gray and black marbled tom mowed with a respectful nod. His blue eyes turned to Shadowleap. "You must be Shadowleap, our new Admiral."

"Yes," Shadowleap confirmed.

"Well then, welcome," he dipped his head towards Shadowleap, showing him the same respect as Shadestorm. Shadestorm could tell this surprised the black and gray warrior at first, but he quickly seemed to enjoy it.

Shadestorm made a mental note that Shadowleap could be a bit power-hungry, before turning towards Icedawn and meowing, "Is it time?"

"Yes," the she-cat meowed. "The Empire in the Stars awaits you. Come." She turned away from the group and padded to the other end of the small island, where a shallow pond had seeped between the rocks from the lake. The other cats hung back, leaving Shadestorm alone with Icedawn. "Drink from the pool, and the Empire in the Stars will send you a dream," she instructed.

He nodded, and stepped forward, lapping at the cool, clear water. It was very cold, and sent shivers down Shadestorm's spine. He closed his eyes as he drunk, and quickly became numb to the world around him.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dark cave mouth, staring up at the moon above him, which was blue instead of white. He glanced around and found that he wasn't alone; nine cats stood deeper in the cave. They came towards him as he turned to face them. "Shadestorm, I trust you have done what we asked?" one cat asked. The black tom that spoke looked exactly like Shadestorm. This was his father, and the cat that had come to him with the idea of Empireclan in the first place.

"Of course, father," he said respectfully. "All the cats you told me to approach have agreed to join Empireclan."

"Good. You have pleased us, my son, and have earned your nine lives," the black tom replied. He stepped forward, and touched his nose to Shadestorm's shoulder. Strength flowed through his body, like Shadestorm had never felt. "With this life, I give you the strength of the great cats of old, to have the power to overcome any obstacle in your way."

Another cat stepped forward as his father moved away. He pressed his nose to Shadestorm's fur, as his father had. As a cold, emotionless calm washed through Shadestorm, the cat met his gaze. "With this life," he meowed in a gruff tone, "I give you clarity of mind to lead your clan to greatness, at whatever cost."

He stepped away, and a third cat moved close. Following suit with the previous cats, he pressed his nose to Shadestorm's shoulder, and then stepped back. One by one, the remaining cats did so, until every cat had come to Shadestorm's side. When they were finished, his father meowed, "From now on, you shall be known as Shadestar, Emperor and guided leader of Empireclan." The cats meowed in unison his new name, and then the dream ended.

He blinked and looked around as his mind came back to the present, and the small island pond he laid next to. "Welcome back, Shadestar," Icedawn meowed next to him.

He stood, and turned to her. "Thank you, Icedawn. We are now a clan," he meowed to his healer. She smiled, clearly happy that everything was in place. He then turned and padded towards his waiting clanmates. "Come," he meowed when he stood in front of them, "Let me take you to our new camp." He then padded down the side of the island to the water's edge, and once again plunged into its cold surface. Once across the lake, the group of cats headed to the grove Shadestar had selected to be their camp. By the time they reached the clearing, the sun had set, and night had engulfed the forest. "I will den here. Eclipsenight, you and the other unselected she-cats will den there, and Icedawn, your den will be there," Shadestar meowed as they entered the camp. He flicked his tail towards the mentioned dens as he named them. "The rest of you, go ahead and select your own den." The cats did so, as Shadestar padded towards his own den; a large hole in the trunk of the largest tree. The whole was just high enough off the ground that Shadestorm had to jump to reach it. He had chosen it so he could watch the clan from his den, and it also made an ideal place for him to stand during gatherings.

Icedawn's den was directly across from his. It was a small borough made by a badger or a fox underneath the trunk of a fallen tree. Most of the tree was gone, except for the chunk over the den. Thick moss grew over the tree, and hung down along the edges, creating a canopy over the den.

Eclipsenight was currently the only unselected she-cat in the clan, so her den was empty besides herself. It was nestled in between three bushes that had grown close together. Shadestar had torn down some of the branches to make an opening into the small clearing in between the bushes.

Razorstreak and Shadowleap's dens were similar to Shadestar's; they were both wholes in trees. Shadowleap's was in the same tree as Shadestar, on the other side of the trunk and down by the ground. Razorstreak was in the next tree over and higher up than Shadestar.

Once every cat had a den he called them to gather underneath his den. "This is where you will come for clan gatherings. Right now we are small in numbers. There is a gathering of the other clans coming up, and I would like this clan to be present, so they know we are here. Until then, I am assigning every cat the duty of recruiting more cats. I would like our numbers to be strong when we present ourselves to the other clans. I want them to know that we are strong, from the beginning. The sooner we establish ourselves, the sooner our goal can be reached. Got it?" The cats raised there voices in unison, showing their understand. "Alright, meeting dismissed. Tomorrow, recruiting begins, so get some rest." The small group dispersed, and Shadestar retreated deeper into his den, ready to sleep. That night, he dreamed of a great clan with him as leader.

* * *

ALLIANCES

**Dawnclan**

Leader

**Rowanstar**- Brown tabby she-cat with white markings and golden eyes.

Deputy

**Sablestorm** - Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes. **Apprentice, Owlpaw**

Medicine Cat

**Heatherwhisker** - Dark copper tabby she-cat with white markings.

Warriors

**Sandstone** - Sand colored tom.

**Wolfheart - **Dark gray and black tortoiseshell tom with blue-gray eyes.

**Gingerclaw** - Ginger colored tom.

**Braveheart** - Once timid black she-cat.

**Lightningpelt - **golden tabby tom.

**Silverwing** - Pretty silver she-cat with a small scar above her eye.

**Squirreltail - **squirrel colored she-cat.

Apprentices

**Owlpaw - **Tan tom with a white belly, chest, and chin. He has pale blue eyes.

Queens

**Rippleshine** - Siamese she-cat.(mate- Sablestorm Kits- Gingerkit, Silverkit, Gentlekit, Sandkit)

Elders

**Cloudedeyes** - old gray she-cat. Blind.

**Duskclan**

Leader

**Cinderstar** - Broad shouldered dark gray tabby tom.

Deputy

**Thornmouth** - Older, battle-scarred brown tom with a very short temper.

Medicine Cat

**Moonsoul** - Dark blue point she-cat with pale blue eyes.

Warriors

**Whispspirit** - Blue and white tabby she-cat with gray eyes.

**Adderstripe - **Brown tom with markings that resemble a snake, and a sandy belly and paws.

**Silvereyes - **blue point she-cat with silver eyes. Moonsoul's only litter mate.

**Clovefur -** Dark brown tabby tom with green eyes.

**Lightheart - **Long-furred, sleek white she-cat with light cream tabby splotches.

**Firesoul **- Long haired ginger she-cat with a short temper. Lon

Elders

**Gentlefoot -** Pale tabby she-cat. she retired young after loosing her last batch of kits to a horrible miscarriage that left her body permanently damaged.

**Chanceclan**

Leader

**Fallstar**- Completely black she-cat with golden eyes and a long, jagged scar along her left side.

Deputy

**Oakfur**- Dark brown tabby tom with yellow-green eyes and a scar across his chest.

Medicine Cat

**Aquasky** - Long haired blue she-cat with yellow eyes.

Warriors

**Mystictail** - dark blue, almost black she-cat. She looks black with a blue sheen. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Poppypaw**

**Wolfclaw** - Brown and gray tom with long, abnormal sized claws. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Quickpaw**

**Brakenclaw** - Bracken colored tortoiseshell tom. Senior warrior.

**Darksong - **Black she-cat and sister of Fallstar. Senior warrior. **Apprentice, Reefpaw**

**Maplefur** - Red tabby she-cat with aqua eyes. She's blind in one eye, and a scar crosses that side of her face.

**Singinglark - **beautiful golden tabby she-cat with a white chest, belly and paws, and piercing, icy blue eyes.

**Firestripe** - brown tom with white and orange calico-like markings and green eyes.

**Shadedmoon - **Shadedmoon is a long-haired light silver she-cat with darker patches. Her voice was damaged in the fire that killed her in her previous life, and so it's very raspy, and sometimes when her throat is dry, she can't talk at all.

**Echocliff **- Gray tom with dark blue eyes.

Apprentices

**Poppypaw - **Dark orange she-cat with black patches and yellow eyes.

**Quickpaw - **black and white tom.

**Reefpaw - **pale cream-colored she-cat.

Queens

**Whitebird - **white she-cat with pale brown speckles. (mate- Echocliff. Kits- Lightningkit and Juniperkit)

**Empireclan**

Emperor

**Shadestar** - Black tom with dark eyes.**  
**

First Admiral

**Shadowleap - **Black and gray tom. Fallstar's brother.

Second Admiral

**Razorstreak - **Brown tom with a black streak down his back and a white chin.

Healer

**Icedawn**** - **Soft, long haired brown she-cat with a white belly, chest, and nose. She icy blue eyes and darker brown spots on her face.

Unselected She-cats  


**Eclipsenight** - Black she-cat with one white paw and a white tail tip.


End file.
